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AN OUTLINE FOR THE STUDY OF 
AMERICAN CIVIL GOVERNMENT 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

NEW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO 
ATLANTA • SAN FRANCISCO 


MACMILLAN & CO., Limited 

LONDON • BOMBAY • CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Lti 

TORONTO 




AN OUTLINE FOR THE STUDY OF 


AMERICAN CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

With Special Reference to Training for 

Citizenship 


FOR USE IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS 


PREPARED FOR THE 

NEW ENGLAND HISTORY TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATION 
n 

BY ITS COMMITTEE: 

Ray Greene Huling, Sc.D. (i Chairman ) 

Head Master, English High School, Cambridge, Mass. 

W/Ilson Ryder Butler, A.M. 

Head Master, High School, New Bedford, Mass. 

Lawrence Boyd Evans, Ph.D. ( Secretary ) 

Professor of History, Tufts College 

John Haynes, Ph.D. 

Junior Master, Dorchester High School, Boston, Mass. 

William Bennett Munro, Ph.D., LL.B. 

Assistant Professor of Government, Harvard University 



Ncto gork 

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

1910 


All rights reserved 


jKzTT 

. K5 


Copyright, 1910, 

BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. 


Set up and electrotyped. Published September, 1910. 



Ncrfoociti i^rcss 

-T. 8. Cushing Co.— Berwick & Smith Co. 
Norwood, Mass., U.8.A. 


©CI.A2714H4 



PREFACE 


Lest it may seem that the committee have taken an inordinately 
long time and held an excessive number of meetings in order to bring 
forth such an apparently small result, its members wish to call atten¬ 
tion to some of the many problems with which they had to deal in 
the preparation of the following syllabus. 

Before beginning any constructive work, the committee had to 
arrive at an agreement — at least a working agreement — upon 
answers to the following questions : 

1. What should be the position of the study of government in the 
secondary school curriculum, and what time allotment should it 
reasonably be expected to have ? 

2 . What should be the aim — or aims — of instruction in civil 
government in secondary schools ? 

3 . What should be the scope of the subject, and what should be 
the place — or places — of emphasis when presented to students 
of secondary school age ? 

4 . What should be its relation to other subjects of the secondary 
school curriculum ? 

5 . What should be the point of attack and order of topics ? 

6 . What should be the method of presenting the subject? 

7 . What should be the form of the syllabus ? 

Upon some of these questions the committee found, both among 
its own members and among teachers of civil government throughout 
the country, widely different opinions. To answer others it seemed 
necessary, owing to lack of previous discussion — or at least to lack 
of reports of such discussion, if any had been had — that wholly new 
ground be broken. 

Several of these questions were found to afford a large field for 
investigation and discussion. For example, the scope of the subject 
may be considered with reference to the greater or less number 
of topics treated, or with reference to the thoroughness and depth of 


VI 


Preface 


treatment of the topics selected, or with reference to the aspect of 
these topics that should receive stress. Shall the secondary school 
course in government aim at a superficial study of a wide range of 
topics, some of them extending into the domains of the kindred 
subjects of history, law, economics, and sociology, or shall it aim 
at a more complete and thorough treatment of a narrower range of 
topics which all agree belong to the field proper of civics ? An 
examination of some of the text-books in government for secondary 
schools now on the market will discover a wide divergence of opinion 
regarding what belongs to a course in government for secondary 
schools. In the combined pages of these books, we find the treat¬ 
ment of an enormous range of topics running the gamut from numis¬ 
matics to the principles of jurisprudence, and from the lives of 
historical characters to an outline of American literature. How the 
committee have answered this question is shown by their omission 
of separate and specific treatment of the rise and development of civil 
liberty, taxation and finance, banks and banking, and international 
relations, and by their treatment of the educational work of the state, 
the work of the state in correction and charities, and the protective 
work of the state, in close connection with the description of the 
corresponding organs of state government. Again, under scope and 
place of emphasis, the committee found it necessary to answer not 
only the question of what topics should be treated and how thoroughly 
they should be handled, but also the question of what phases or 
aspects of these topics should be presented. In other words, it was 
necessary to decide how much attention should be given to the 
machinery of government and its functions and processes, how much 
to the history of government, how much to the principles and theory 
of government, and how much to the ethics of government. The 
conclusions of the committee in regard to these points are stated 
briefly and without argument in the introduction. 

The question of order of topics is perhaps the most important 
of all, for upon it depends in a large degree the question of method. 
This question called out more discussion than any other of the seven 
preliminary questions upon which the committee found it necessary 
to reach an agreement ^before beginning constructive work. The 
order finally adopted by a majority of the committee, viz., local gov¬ 
ernment, state government, and federal government, seems to be 


Preface 


Vll 


in accord with accepted pedagogical principles and to be supported 
by the great majority of teachers of government in secondary schools 
and of writers upon the teaching of the subject. 

In regard to the form which the syllabus should take, there arose 
at once many vexatious questions of varying degrees of importance, 
among which were the following: 

Should topics only be used ? or 

Should statements be interspersed ? or 

Should questions replace either topics or statements whenever 
pedagogical ends would thus be better served ? 

Should directions — to students, or teacher, or both — be given 
wherever they should seem helpful ? 

Should any devices, such as tabulations and diagrams, that have 
proved especially helpful, be given ? 

Should everything pertaining to method be given in the introduc¬ 
tion, or should it be interspersed in the body of the work wherever 
it should seem especially needed ? 

Should general references be given at the beginning of the syllabus, 
or more specific references at the heads of chapters, or should very 
specific citations with number of chapter and page be given in close 
connection with separate topics ? 

The answers finally given to all these questions will be seen upon 
examination of the syllabus. A few of them are briefly discussed 
in the introduction. 

The committee wish to express their thanks to the many teachers 
who have helped by advice, suggestion, or criticism to give the sylla¬ 
bus its final form. They wish to acknowledge the expert advice and 
helpful suggestions of Mr. Arthur W. Dunn, Director of the Depart¬ 
ment of Civics in the public schools of Indianapolis, and especially 
would they express their obligations to Dr. James Sullivan, Principal 
of the Boys’ High School of Brooklyn, N.Y., and to Mr. E. E. Proper, 
acting head of the History Department in that school, for their 
thorough and helpful criticism made after giving the sample chapters 
class-room test. The committee wish also to express their apprecia¬ 
tion of the courteous helpfulness of Superintendent A. T. Stuart of 
Washington, D.C., Superintendent William E. Maxwell of New York 
City, Superintendent Kendall, Indianapolis, and Superintendent E. G. 
Cooley of Chicago, for their assistance in arranging for the class- 


viii Preface 

room trials of the sample chapters in the high schools of their, respec¬ 
tive cities. 

The making of the syllabus has been a labor of love for every 
member of the committee. They have endeavored to have every 
chapter undergo some actual schoolroom test before it assumed its 
final form, yet there are still, no doubt, imperfections and crudities 
which more extended use will bring to light. The committee hope 
that their work, though it be but a beginning upon which others may 
improve, may nevertheless be of immediate help to the great army 
of conscientious teachers who are trying — often under discouraging 
circumstances — to teach young Americans the great principles of 
their government and to develop in them high ideals of citizenship. 


PREFATORY NOTE 

As we send out this little book, which has occupied the attention 
of our committee for so long, we are obliged to record the death of 
Mr. Wilson R. Butler, who had been a member of the committee from 
the beginning, and who, as editor for the committee, had been chiefly 
influential in giving the Syllabus its final form. Mr. Butler was a 
skilful teacher of civil government, and his wide knowledge and large 
experience was of invaluable service in the preparation of this Sylla¬ 
bus, to the completion of which he devoted all the energy of the last 
weeks of his life. He had begun the correction of the proof, — a task 
for the completion of which we are under obligation to his daughter, 
Miss Alice A. Butler. 

LAWRENCE B. EVANS, 

President of the New England History 
Teachers' Association. 


\ 


lx 



CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Introductory Discussion .xiii 

CHAPTER I 

Principles and Definitions — Theory of the State . . . . i 

CHAPTER II 

Local Government — The County, the Town, the Township, the 
County District, the School District, the Village and the 
Borough.12 

CHAPTER III 

Local Government ( Continued )—The City ..... .36 

CHAPTER IV 

State Government.72 

CHAPTER V 

Federal Government. .112 

CHAPTER VI 

The Government of Territories and Dependencies . . . .152 

CHAPTER VII 

Citizenship.156 

CHAPTER VIII 

Political Parties.160 

CHAPTER IX 

The Selection of Public Officials ..170 


XI 


































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AN OUTLINE FOR THE STUDY OF 
AMERICAN CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

INTRODUCTORY DISCUSSION 

REFERENCES 

Bourne, Henry E., The Teaching of History and Civics , Chapters VI, XX. 

Bryce, James, The Teaching of Civic Duty , Contemporary Review, LXIV, 14-28. 

Report of the Committee of Ten, 179-181, et passim. 

Compayre, G., Lectures on Pedagogy, Civic Instruction, 408-416. 

Hadley, Arthur T., Political Education , Atlantic Monthly, LXXXVI, 145-151. 
Hill, Frank A., Aims in Teaching Civil Government, National Educational Associa¬ 
tion, 1891, 657-665. 

James, E. J., and others, Necessity of Teaching Duties of Citizenship in the Public 
Schools, Twelfth Annual Convention of the Association of Colleges and Prepara¬ 
tory Schools of the Middle States and Maryland. 

Martin, George H., Hints on Teaching Civics. 

Wilcox, Delos F., Chapter on Civic Education, The American City. 

I. Time Allotment and Arrangement 

Two or two and a half forty-five-minute periods a week (besides the 
time for visiting, which must be done largely out of school hours) 
during the senior year is found to be an average time allotment for 
civil government in secondary schools. It is very desirable that the 
work in government be correlated with that of United States history. 
For this reason many schools give a parallel time allotment to United 
States history during this year. Some teachers, however, have ex¬ 
pressed a preference for giving the full four or five periods a week during 
the first half of the year to the history, so that when the class takes up 
the study of government during the last half year it may have the 
United States history immediately behind it. Such a time allotment 

xiii 


XIV 


Introductory Discussion 


may serve where government is taught simply as a “book subject,” 
but under any proper method of presentation of the subject, the class 
needs to be kept in touch with the movements of government through¬ 
out the entire year. In local government especially is the year the 
governmental cycle. It is suggested, therefore, that, where there is a 
desire to have a large part of the history work done before doing much 
in government, one period a week from the beginning of the year be 
allotted to civics and three or four to history, and that, at the middle 
of the year this allotment be reversed. 

In a few schools political economy instead of United States history 
is found to be the half course running parallel with the course in gov¬ 
ernment. Where there has been a strong course in United States 
history during the year before (the third year), this is an excellent 
arrangement. 

II. Aims 

i. To train the mind (in common with other studies). 

* “ Civics is a study of an important phase of human society and for 
this reason has the same value as elementary science or history.” 
— Bourne. 

* “ Civics (noun). The science of civil government; the principles of government 
in their application to society.” — Century Dictionary. 

For many years the terms “civics” and “civil government” as applied to a 
subject of study in the secondary school seem to have been used somewhat loosely 
as synonyms. 

Recently there has been a tendency to apply the term “ civics ” to a more com¬ 
prehensive though elementary study of the relations of the citizen and the com¬ 
munity. In this study — adapted to the elementary schools — emphasis is placed 
upon civic duty and the sociological, economical, and ethical relations of the citizen 
and the community, and even upon the sanitary and aesthetic conditions of their 
surroundings. Civil government, as it becomes more nearly synonymous with politi¬ 
cal science, is a college study. The field of study for the secondary school, lying 
as it does between the civics of the elementary school and the political science of the 
college, partakes of the nature of each. It is designated in these pages both by 
the term “civil government” and by the shorter term “civics”; but both terms 
are used with the connotation set forth below under “ scope and place of emphasis.” 


Introductory Discussion 


xv 


2. To develop political intelligence. 

“Many a reform has fallen through on account of the crass ig¬ 
norance of politics on the part of the reformers.” — A. Lawrence 
Lowell. 

3. To awaken civic consciousness, to interest the pupil in civic duty, 

and to prepare him, through instruction and practice, for its 
exercise. 

“ Instruction in civics should have for its highest aim the indoctri¬ 
nation of the learner in sound notions of political morality.” 
— S. E. Forman. 


III. Scope, and Place of Emphasis 

1. Actual government as found in the local unit, the state, and the 

nation. 

A knowledge of the organs and machinery of actual government 
is of course necessary to an understanding of its processes and 
functions, but the emphasis should be upon the latter. 

2. So much of the history of government as is needed to explain present 

institutions and conditions. 

In the study of the history of government, special attention is given 
to the development of institutions and practices; there is a con¬ 
stant comparison of the then with the now. 

3. So much of the theory and principles of government as is needed to 

establish an orderly arrangement of the subject matter in the 
pupil’s mind and to give him an understanding of the meaning 
of observed facts and phenomena. 

The study of the theory and principles of government necessitates 
a constant seeking of the why; and a constant comparison of 
theory with fact, with some investigation of reasons for their 
differences. 

4. The examination, in a concrete way, of the ethical principles under¬ 

lying government and good citizenship. 


XVI 


Introductory Discussion 


5. All the application, all the learning by doing, all the discipline 
through the performance of such social duties as fall to pupils 
during school life, that can be had. 

In the study of the ethical phase of government, and in the applica¬ 
tion of principles and truths learned to the direction of personal 
conduct, effort is made: 

a. To bring out clearly and make real the pupil’s personal relation 

to government — particularly as regards the benefits which he 
receives from government, and his duties and obligations to¬ 
ward government; 

b. To cultivate Public Spirit and develop habits of good citizenship 

through participation in the duties, obligations, and benefits 
of school life. Learning by doing is nowhere more important 
than in the study of citizenship. 

The committee realize that such a syllabus is valuable for what it 
excludes as well as for what it includes, and they have thought it best 
to treat somewhat fully the more essential features of our American 
government, and to omit some of the topics (more properly, perhaps, 
belonging to the allied subjects of history, economics, jurisprudence, 
and sociology) often included in secondary school texts on government. 

IV. Correlation and Isolation 

A serious objection to many high school courses in government 
is found in the unwise correlation of civil government with history, 
or, to speak more exactly, in the attempt to make civil government 
an adjunct of history. The study of civics is important enough 
in the education of American youth to warrant the preemption of a 
definite field of study and a sufficient time allotment. There 
should, indeed, be close correlation between civics, history, economics, 
and ethics; but civics should have its own right of way and be un¬ 
trammeled by either of the other subjects. It is often found that the 
subject taught under the head of civil government is constitutional 


Introductory Discussion 


xvi 1 


history; that is, the historical aspect of governmental institutions 
engrosses attention to the extent that only the most superficial work 
can be done toward getting a knowledge of the intricate machinery 
of present government — its operations, its principles, and its ethics. 
History is not civics, nor civics history. History deals mainly with the 
past, civics with the present. The historical narrative of the develop¬ 
ment of governmental institutions is often helpful, even necessary, to 
a thorough understanding of present government, but it is no more 
that government than the story of the evolution of the human race is 
the human race. Hence, in this syllabus the committee have limited 
the amount of history of government to so much only as seems needed 
to explain present institutions, conditions, and tendencies. 

There is probably no danger that the ethics or the economics of gov¬ 
ernment will be made too prominent 

V. Point of Attack and Order of Topics 

When we have decided upon the relative amounts of actual govern¬ 
ment, of history of government, of economics and ethics of government 
that may properly be put into a syllabus of civics, there remain two 
interrelated questions of order to be answered before we may begin to 
construct it. 

First, shall the order of topics be local, state, and federal government, 
or vice versa ? 

In the study of history and some allied subjects, the logical develop¬ 
ment of the subject seems to demand that we begin at the beginning 
— remote in time and place — and follow the course of growth down 
to the present, while the psychological structure and growth of the 
pupil’s mind demand a diametrically opposite procedure; viz., from the 
known and near at hand to the unknown and remote. But fortunately 
for the young student of government there are no such conflicting 
demands; both the logical development of the subject and the psy¬ 
chological structure of his mind demand that he begin with the known 


XV111 


Introductory Discussion 


and near at hand — his local government. Our state government was 
founded upon local government, which has its roots in the remote past 
and in the very essentials of human nature, and our federal government, 
the late flower upon the tree of civil liberty, shows in every part its 
relation to the parent stem and root. 

“Heretofore, textbook writers on civil government have placed the 
emphasis on the national, rather than on the local, side of our political 
life, as if the growth of such ideas had been from above downward. 
This method has given students — the future citizens — a false con¬ 
ception of the genesis of all legitimate governments. Freeman has 
shown that the logical and historical order of political development 
has been from below upward, and it is certainly a matter of supreme 
importance, especially in a republic, that the young citizen should 
grasp this idea, and that he should realize the momentous importance 
of the principle.”— J. R. Flickinger, in the preface to his Civil Gov¬ 
ernment. 

A thorough knowledge of the machinery of local government and a 
clear understanding of its working are necessary also as an appercep¬ 
tive basis for the study of state and nation. 

Not only should the study of our federal government come last in the 
high school civics course, but the time devoted to this part of the sub¬ 
ject should not be more than about one fourth of the time allotted to 
the whole. Commercial reasons, no doubt, have brought about the 
undue space and emphasis given in the majority of civics textbooks 
to the treatment of the federal government Most of these textbooks 
were made to sell in all the states of the Union. Since state govern¬ 
ments vary so widely that comparatively few statements — and these 
but general commonplaces — can be made regarding them, no adequate 
or concrete treatment of state government could be given in these 
books. Since local governments in the different parts of the Union 
vary still more widely than state governments, local government has 
received still less adequate and satisfactory treatment than state gov¬ 
ernment has. Hence, textbook makers and publishers have relied 


Introductory Discussion 


xix 


largely upon a treatment of the federal government to make textbooks 
which should be salable in all the states. Such books give to the 
young citizen a false perspective of the field of government, and a dis¬ 
torted view of his relation to it. 

A moment’s consideration will show that the pupil comes into direct 
contact with his local government scores of times oftener than with his 
federal government. His home is protected from fire and thieves by 
local government; the water, and often the light, is furnished ; the elec¬ 
trical wiring and plumbing are inspected ; garbage is carted away; the 
street before the house is repaired, cleaned, and sprinkled; his school 
buildings are built and cared for, his teachers hired and his books fur¬ 
nished by local government. His father’s taxes are assessed and 
collected; his birth is registered, and his burial permit signed by local 
officers. He hears or reads in the daily papers more or less continual 
discussion of the powers and duties of local officers. The ordinances 
or by-laws that keep him from riding his bicycle on the sidewalk, or 
from coasting on some streets, or from doing various other things that 
he wishes to do, are made by the local legislative body. Through the 
courts and the administration of law, and through elections, the pupil 
may now and then become aware of his state government; while the 
postman and the currency represent the chief visible points at which 
the federal government touches'his life. 

The second question of order to which we should give at least a pro¬ 
visional answer before making our syllabus is: shall actual, present 
government, or the theory of government, or the history of govern¬ 
ment be presented first ? 

The answer to this question has been implied in the answer to the 
first, but we may get further light and guidance from a glance at the 
method of presentation of other subjects. Wherever the laboratory 
method may be used, e.g., in physics and chemistry, the prevailing 
opinion is that the thing itself should be studied first, and principles 
be deduced or illustrated thereby. Principles, however, are not left 
wholly to be deduced, nor are theories postponed too long. They are 


XX 


Introductory Discussion 


brought forward from time to time by the wise teacher as they are 
needed for stagings and supports to the laboratory work. In the same 
way, the history of the subject is introduced at whatever time it seems 
likely to be studied with the greatest interest and to serve best to ex¬ 
plain and illuminate present phenomena and conditions. 

Since, therefore, the method of study of local government is in a 
degree objective and empirical, if we begin with this part of our 
subject, we may follow the method of science teaching, and present 
actual government first. 

The study of state and federal government, however, must, as we 
have said, proceed chiefly by the library method, and the history of 
these institutions may well serve as the avenue of approach to the study 
of them as they now exist; or at least the main facts of their historical 
development may be introduced early in the course of the study of 
them. 

Granting, then, that the high-school pupil should begin his study of 
civics with present, local government, we still find it necessary that 
somewhere in the early part of his course there should be a brief study 
of the fundamental definitions and basic principles of government. 
Some teachers prefer to have this preliminary investigation and dis¬ 
cussion of theory and principles before beginning the study of local 
government, others prefer to have it follow, still others would sandwich 
it in with the more or less empirical study of local government. Prob¬ 
ably it makes little difference which of these courses is followed, pro¬ 
vided this preliminary theoretical basis is laid before the student passes 
to the study of the state government. In any case, this theoretical 
outline should be reviewed from time to time and enlarged and com¬ 
pleted as the pupil’s acquired knowledge of the subject makes it pos¬ 
sible. In the following syllabus, however, in order to preserve the unity 
of presentation, the .preliminary discussion of theory and principles is 
brought together in one section and placed before the outline for the 
study of local government; and the more immediate historical facts 
of the development of town, county, state, or national government are 


Introductory Discussion 


xxi 


• placed at the beginning of the outline for the study of each of these 
topics; while the more complete and extended history of the rise and 
growth of civil liberty is left for the teacher of history to present. 

VI. Method 

In the study of the actual government of the town, district, or city 
in which the school is situated, the laboratory method should be used 
as far as possible. That is, the town, district, or city government, its 
processes and functions, should be made the basis of observational 
study, and the town, district, or city documents the chief texts. The 
teacher should call out from the different pupils of his class all the 
various points of contact they have had with government, whether it 
be that of the home, the school, or of the local civic unit; and he should 
plan systematic visiting in connection with the different topics as they 
are taken up. Before making a visit, it is desirable to have some 
introductory and preparatory work done, either through study of the 
text or through discussion, that the students may grasp more fully 
the significance of what they observe during their visit. The teacher 
f should see that a carefully prepared set of directions to be followed 
and questions to be answered be put into the hand of every pupil when 
setting out upon a visit. The following is a sample set used by a city 
high-school class when visiting a caucus or primary: — 

1. What ward and precinct do you live in ? 

2. Make a diagram of the polling place, giving location of booths, 

ballot box, entrance exit, etc. 

3. What seems to be the duty and position of each officer presen 1 

4. What documents do you see used ? 

5. What does the voter say ? to whom ? 

6. What is said to the voter ? by whom ? 

7. What does the voter do ? (Give in detail.) 

8. Get sample ballot if possible; if not, copy a sample ballot that 

you will find posted on the wall. 


xx ii Introductory Discussion 

g. Find out how the names got upon the ballot. 

10. Who makes the ballots ? 

11. What is done with them after the voting is over? 

12. Who is holding this caucus ? 

13. What is the business — so far as you can learn from the ballot 

— of this caucus ? 

For a visit to a polling place at an election, in addition to the above 
questions and directions, there were used the following: — 

14. How are the election officers chosen ? 

15. Why do they, for the most part, work in pairs ? 

16. What are the steps in counting the votes ? 

17. How does an election differ from a caucus or primary? 

(a) In the personnel of the voters ? 

(b) In its business ? 

After the visit, the assignment of the text should be again carefully 
studied and the appropriate documents made to furnish all the infor¬ 
mation possible. After these steps have been taken, the pupil may be 
considered ready for recitation. The visits annually made by the 
civics class of one New England city high school are as follows : — 

1. In connection with the study of nominations and elections, 

a. To the registrars of voters’ office to see registration of voters. 

b. To a primary or caucus. 

c. To a nominating convention (senatorial or other district). 

d. To a polling place at election. 

2. In connection with the study of the legislative department, 

a. To several sessions of the city council. 

b. To a neighboring town meeting. 

c. To a legislative committee hearing (of city council or sometimes 

of state legislature). 

3. In connection with the study of the executive department, 

a. To the inauguration of the city government. 

b. To the offices of mayor, treasurer, city clerk, auditor, etc. 

4. In connection with the study of the judicial department, 


Introductory Discussion xxiii 

a. To the police court (civil session). 

b. To the superior court room (preliminary visit), grand jury room, 

registry of deeds, jail, and house of correction. 

c. To the superior court at its opening session. 

As a sample of such a laboratory exercise in civics, a preliminary 
visit to the superior court room and grand jury room, made in con¬ 
nection with a visit to the county buildings, may be described. 

A preliminary study of the county government has been had, and, 
in connection with the fact that the county in New England is the unit 
for the administration of justice, a brief outline has been given of the 
relation of the local (district) court, the grand jury, the superior court, 
the jail, and the house of correction. 

The class are taken to the grand jury room, asked to note its small 
size — the grand jury sittings not public ; to count the chairs — 
number of grand jurors twenty-three. An accused is chosen from 
among the pupils to take his place on the witness-stand and an im¬ 
promptu sheriff to have custody of him. After a brief statement of 
the source of the indictment, of the facts that only witnesses against 
the accused are heard here, and that a majority vote of the jury is 
necessary to the finding of “A true bill,” etc., the class follow the sheriff 
and his prisoner to the superior court room. The teacher assigns one 
student to the judge’s chair, another to the clerk’s desk, assigns to 
their respective places a crier, a reporter, two or three witnesses, some 
lawyers, and impanels a jury of twelve for the jury box. The rest of 
the class occupy the public seats. After the teacher has given a brief 
outline of the trial of a case, calling attention to the duties of the various 
officers in the court room, the judge sentences the prisoner (with all 
others in the room) to sixty minutes in the house of correction. The 
sheriff takes the class there, and they are duly committed — unless, 
as sometimes happens, a bona fide sheriff brings a bona fide prisoner 
at this opportune moment. Behind the doubly locked doors the 
keeper shows the students the cells of the prisoners, who are at this 
time at work in the shops, and explains the provisions — made under 


XXIV 


Introductory Discussion 


the direction of the county commissioner — for the care of the inmates. 
The class are shown the jail in which, the keeper explains, are kept those 
prisoners not yet proven guilty, between their experience in the police 
court and that of the grand jury room, or between the latter and the 
forthcoming trial in the superior court. 

After an inspection of the laundry, the baths, the kitchen, and after 
seeing the convicts working in the shops, then taking their food and 
being locked in their cells, the pupils hear from the keeper a brief state¬ 
ment of the relation of the officers of the institution to the county com¬ 
missioners and to the sheriff, and are dismissed. 

It must be borne in mind that this is only a preliminary visit prepara¬ 
tory to a more careful and detailed study of the state judiciary and to 
later visits to the district and superior courts in session. 

When these later visits to the courts in session are made, by reason 
of the preliminary visit and the careful study of the state judiciary that 
follows, the pupils are able to understand something of the duties of 
the judge, the jury, the clerk, the witnesses, the lawyers, the sheriff, 
and the other officers, to know how they come to be present, and to 
grasp fairly well what is going on in the court room. 

In the study of state and national governments the library method 
must of course be employed. Besides the textbook and such supple¬ 
mentary and reference books as may be had, the United States Consti¬ 
tution, state constitutions, city charters, the legislative manuals of 
local, state, and national governments, the various documents and 
reports published by local, state, and national governments, numerous 
political papers, such as ballots, credentials, certificates of nomination, 
warrants for meetings, legal forms, etc., constitute the student’s work¬ 
ing library. And the bulletin board, with its daily quota of clippings, 
legal notices, and announcements, touching the particular portion of 
the subject being studied by the class, should be an essential piece of 
apparatus. Besides serving to illuminate the textbook, such material 
arouses interest and gives vitality to the study. An excellent practice 
is to have pupils select newspaper articles upon current political ques- 


Introductory Discussion 


xxv 


tions which have a bearing upon the phase of government that is being 
studied, and write discussions thereon. These articles and discussions, 
if preserved in some form throughout the year, will tend to train the 
pupil to steadiness of judgment, will give him valuable practice in the 
intelligent use of the newspaper, and will train him to think closely 
upon what he reads. 

Comparison is a dominant note in the following syllabus. The pupil 
is urged to compare his own local government with that outlined in the 
syllabus, and with other local governments, and to compare his state 
government with that outlined in the syllabus, with that of other states, 
and with his local government; and finally to compare the federal 
government with his state government and with his local government. 
Some excellent teachers have urged a further comparison of our Amer¬ 
ican forms of government, particularly municipal and federal, with 
European forms. Some opportunity has been given under city and 
federal governments for students who wish to do some such compara¬ 
tive study, but the committee feel that the field of study must be kept 
reasonably narrow in order that thorough work may be done, and 
therefore have made but little provision for such comparison. 

The aim of this comparison is twofold : (i) to assist the memory 
and to deepen impressions — John Fiske says, “It is impossible 
thoroughly to grasp the meaning of any group of facts, in any depart¬ 
ment of study, until we have duly compared them with allied groups 
of facts” — and (2) to stimulate intelligent criticism to the end that 
as generation after generation grow up and have their influence upon 
government, the unnecessary, the weak, and the bad in government 
may be eliminated, and the necessary, the efficient, and the good 
become universal. 


VII. Form of the Syllabus 

In a syllabus of this kind, strictly logical arrangement and perfect 
form, desirable as they are, must be considered of secondary importance 
when compared with usability and serviceability to student and teacher. 


XXVI 


Introductory Discussion 


The topic is the customary building stone of the syllabus, and must 
continue so, but it has an inherent weakness. The relative importance 
of topics can be indicated only in the roughest way ; a topic stated in a 
few words may be more important and may properly be given more 
time and attention in the classroom than one developed through a 
number of sub-topics. While statements belong rather to the text¬ 
book, and questions — in their customary uses — to the teacher, yet, 
after much deliberation, the committee decided to use statements 
sparingly, and also to replace both topics and statements by interroga¬ 
tive forms wherever there were good pedagogical reasons for so doing. 
Varying amounts of each of these three forms seem desirable in different 
parts of the syllabus. The topical form may be used almost exclusively 
in constructing an outline for the study of the theory of the state, or 
for the study of the single institution of federal government. But for 
the outline of local and state governments, in which there is an infinite 
number of variations, and where the particular variation represented 
by his own local or state government is most essential and most interest¬ 
ing for the student, the statement can be but little used, and the inter¬ 
rogative form is often much preferable to the topical, and at times 
seems absolutely indispensable. It should be noted, however, that 
this is not the use of the question — usually found at the end of sec¬ 
tions or chapters of textbooks — for review, or to test the student’s 
faithfulness with the text, but a use of the question as an essential 
part of the guiding lines ( Leitfaden ) along which the student is to be 
led to an adequate conception of the individual institution — town, 
county, city, or state — in which he lives and which he is making his 
immediate object of study. 

Directions, tabulations, and diagrams that have been found espe¬ 
cially helpful have been admitted in the body of the syllabus wherever 
they seemed most serviceable. 

No attempt has been made to keep scope and method entirely sepa¬ 
rate. While general principles of method have been set forth in the 
introduction, a somewhat constant application of these principles has 


Introductory Discussion xxvii 

been made as the several topics have been developed, even at the risk 
of repetition. 

Regarding bibliography and references, it was decided, after some 
discussion of the value of general references compared with that of 
specific references, to compromise; and the titles of a few carefully 
selected reference books have been given at the heads of chapters, while 
more specific references have been given at the heads of main sub- 
topics, and very specific citations, with chapter or page indicated, 
have been made in close connection with subordinate topics. 


VIII. Preparation of the Teacher 

No subject of the secondary-school curriculum makes greater de¬ 
mands upon the teacher than civil government. 

In order that his instruction may meet with a reasonable degree of 
success the instructor in civil government needs : — 

1. Theoretical knowledge. 

Besides a much wider knowledge of the theory and principles of 
government than he is called upon to teach, the teacher of civics 
needs: — 

a. A wide and accurate knowledge of history, particularly of insti¬ 

tutional history. 

b. A good grounding in the principles of. political economy. 

c. Some knowledge of law and jurisprudence. 

d. As much knowledge of sociology at least as is contained in Gid- 

dings’ Elements of Sociology. 

e. A knowledge of parliamentary practice. 

2. Practical knowledge. 

A knowledge of the organs and functions of actual government, and 
a thorough familiarity with practical politics, i.e. with party 
machinery and political practices. 

To the end that civics may appear to have a practical bearing and 
a live interest to students, and not be dealt with in a purely 


XXV111 


Introductory Discussion 


academic way, it is important that the teacher be as much at 
home in a ward caucus or in a nominating convention, and 
understand as well what is going on there, as the most astute 
politician. Teachers may think this a hard qualification to meet. 
It is; and it may cost some years of first-hand study of practical 
politics, but it is absolutely essential to good teaching. No in¬ 
structor has an excuse for ignorance in this portion of the field. 
How disastrous it would be to the chemistry teacher’s usefulness 
were he to visit a soap factory or a bleachery with his class and 
be obliged to admit that he did not know and could not under¬ 
stand what was going on there! What teacher of botany or 
zoology would be considered capable were he to find himself, 
on taking his class to the fields, bewildered by the many phe¬ 
nomena of fife and ignorant of the significance of their forms and 
movements ? 

3. Civic spirit and enthusiasm for the subject. 

No teacher should assume the responsibility of giving instruction 
in civics unless he has a deep interest in the civic life of his com¬ 
munity and possesses a missionary spirit. 

To the prospective teacher of civics the requirements here mentioned 
may seem exacting; but he will find that this preparation is but 
a minimum, and that as he goes on he will discover that he can 
never exhaust the subject or find himself completely prepared. 

Yet he may console himself with the thought that the work of no 
other teacher is more important for the student, for the commu¬ 
nity, and for civilization. 


AN OUTLINE FOR THE STUDY OF 
AMERICAN CIVIL GOVERNMENT 
























































































































A SYLLABUS OF 

AMERICAN CIVIL GOVERNMENT 


CHAPTER I 

PRINCIPLES AND DEFINITIONS 

Although it seems necessary for the pupil to have, near the begin¬ 
ning of his study of government, some conception of the meaning of 
such terms as the State, sovereignty, government, and law, yet it is not 
expected that he will grasp fully all the content of this first chapter 
before he proceeds to the study of actual government. Indeed, some 
teachers will prefer to take up no more than the introductory lesson 
before passing to the study of the local government. In any case, 
however, a return to this chapter should be made from time to time, 
until the pupil has a fairly good grasp of all of it. For while too much 
insistence upon theories at first may tend to deaden interest, and to 
give the pupil the idea that government is something intangible, far 
away, and unreal, yet, on the other hand, a too long continued deal¬ 
ing with the empirical facts of government, with no theories and prin¬ 
ciples to connect and illumine them, will, doubtless, cause the pupil 
to miss the meaning of much that he sees, and, because his mind is 
filled with a seemingly unrelated mass of facts, give him the impres¬ 
sion that government is a “rule of thumb” business. Again we ven¬ 
ture the caution that the teacher do not attempt to have his class go 
too deeply into this chapter, and thereby spend undue time upon it. 
Only so much political theory should be taught as will suffice to give 
the pupil some knowledge of the nature of the body politic, its evolu¬ 
tion, and its general organization. It is not profitable to take up at 
any length the political theories of individual writers, however impor- 


2 


American Civil Government 


tant these may be for the advanced student of government. The 
main end sought by instruction in this part of the field is to give the 
pupil some well-defined preliminary ideas and to make clear the dif¬ 
ference between several important political terms which are popu¬ 
larly confused. Not more than five or six periods ought to be given 
to this section of the work. 

Introductory Lesson 

I. A review of the pupil’s experience with government, at home, 

in school; with local, state, and national government. 

II. A review of what the pupil has previously learned about civil 

government. 

III. A consideration of the source of authority in home, school, local, 

state, and national government. 

Who makes the laws ? Who interprets them ? Who executes 
them ? 

A preliminary definition of the State. 

IV. Reasons why government is necessary : 

1. A social obligation. 

The nature of human beings necessitates society, hence 
government is necessary for, 

a. The protection of persons and property. 

b. Cooperation for the promotion of the general welfare. 

Give examples illustrating both. 

2. A moral obligation. 

V. Obligations of the individual toward government. 

1. To support it. 

a. with money — taxes. 

b. by taking an active part in it. 

2. To obey the “rules of the game.” 

3. To interest himself in having others do so. 

VI. The way the State expresses its will. Preliminary definition of 
government and law. 






























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American Civil Government 


THEORY OF THE STATE 

REFERENCES 

Ashley, R. L., The American Federal State, Chap. I. 

Bluntschli, J. K., Theory of the Modern State. 

Dunning, W. A., History of Political Theories. 

Leroy-Beaulieu, P., The Modern State. 

Merriam, C. E., American Political Theories. 

Pollock, Sir Frederick, An Introduction to the History of the Science of Politics. 
Wilson, Woodrow, The State. 

Willoughby, W. W., The American Constitutional System. 

I. The nature of the State. 

1. Definition of the State. 

Comparison of various suggested definitions. 

2. The essential attributes of a State. 

a. Territory. 

b. Population. 

c. Organization. 

(1) A system of government. 

(2) A system of law. 

d. Sovereignty. (See III, below.) 

3. Distinction between “ states,” “nation,” “society,” and 

“government.” 

II. The origin of the State. 

1. Theories of state origin. 

a. The theory of divine origin. 

Statement and criticism. 

b. The theory of the social compact. 

Statement and criticism. 

c. The historical theory. 

2. The historical evolution of the State. 

a. Organization of the family unit. 

b. Organization of the tribal unit. 

c. Examples of political evolution of the State. 


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6 


American Civil Government 


III. The organization of the State. 

1. The sovereign power. 

a. Nature of sovereignty. 

b. Origin and development of sovereignty. 

c. Its essential attributes. 

d. The location of sovereign power. 

(1) How determined. 

(2) In the United States. 

e. Sovereignty and government distinguished. 

2. The government. 

a. The nature of government. 

b. The immediate basis of government. 

(1) Written and unwritten constitutions. 

(a) Their essential features. 

(b) Merits and defects of each. 

(2) The system of law (statutory). 

(a) Definition of civil law. 

(b) Contrast of statutory and common law. 

(3) Relation of constitutions to law. 

Some such tabulation of the various forms of law as the following 
will be found useful. 


c. 


Written 
(made by 
legislative 
Civil bodies) 
Law 


Constitutions 

Statutes 

Charters 

By-laws 


Common 
(made by the 
[ courts) 

The classification of governments. 


(1) Monarchy, aristocracy, democracy, and republic. 

(2) Monarchical and republican. 























































































































































































































8 


American Civil Government 


(3) Autocratic and representative. 

(4) Unitary and federal. 

(a) The nature of federal government. 

( b ) The merits and defects of federalism. 
d. The functions of government. 

(1) To secure justice to members of the State, by securing 

the “natural rights” : 

(a) Right of personal security : 

Of life and limb, 

Of health, 

Of reputation. 

(b) Right of personal liberty : 

To come and go, 

To speak and write, 

To assemble peaceably, 

To be free from unreasonable search. 

(< c ) Right of private property : 

To acquire, use, and dispose of property, including 
time and labor. 

(d) Right to freedom of thought and of religious wor¬ 

ship. 

(e) Limitation of the “natural rights” of the citizen : 
By the rights of his neighbors, 

By the needs of the State, — 

Taxation, 

Eminent domain. 

(/) Forfeiture of the “natural rights.” 

Meaning of civil liberty. 

(2) To promote the general welfare : 

(a) By measures of public utility, — the building of 
roads and bridges, public buildings, systems of 
water supply and sewage, etc. 

Coinage. 

Postal service. 













































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IO 


American Civil Government 


(b) By promoting industries, — 

Agriculture. 

Commerce. 

Manufacture. 

(c) By furnishing.education. 

(i d ) By care of the unfortunate and irresponsible. 

(3) To defend the State : 

(a) From domestic enemies. 

(b) From foreign enemies. 

(4) The limits of State interference. 
e. The departments of government. 

(1) Legislative. 

(2) Executive. 

(3) Judicial. 

(4) Relation of the foregoing. 

(5) Reason for separation of departments. 

3. The citizen. 

a. The nature of citizenship. 

b. The privileges of citizenship. 

c. The obligations of citizenship. 

d. The relation of the citizen to sovereign power. 
Meaning of political liberty. 

e. The relation of the citizen to government. 

(1) Meaning of political equality. 

(2) Meaning of social and economic equality. 











































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CHAPTER II 


LOCAL GOVERNMENT 

Every pupil should begin with the study of the government of his 
own local unit. This outline is built upon the idea that the pupil is 
to get his fundamental notions of the purposes, organs, and functions 
of government from local government — the government with which 
he is in direct contact — and that, using these notions as his apper¬ 
ceptive bases, he is to go on through state and national government, 
building up and rounding out his conceptions of government and its 
functions. This method of procedure with the study of government 
makes necessary much visiting and direct observation in the early 
part of the study, and a close touch with the actual movements of 
government throughout the entire course. Civil government can 
no more be learned from a textbook alone than can chemistry. 

Of course all pupils do not have equally good opportunities for study¬ 
ing local government, yet practically every one, be he a member of ever 
so small a community, lives under some form of local government and 
may observe its movements. With the help of the newspaper, pictures, 
and books, the teacher may hope to give such a pupil a fairly adequate 
notion of the more complete forms of local government, and thus to 
prepare him to understand state and national government. 

Such a method of study demands a comparison with his local govern¬ 
ment, not only of the various type forms of local government, but also 
of his state and national government, as he comes to a study of them. 
Take, for example, the study of the legislative department. When 
the student reaches his state legislature he is to build upon his knowl¬ 
edge of his local legislative body previously studied; again, when the 
national legislative body is reached he is to look back upon his study 





























































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14 


American Civil Government 


of both local and state legislative bodies. Such constant tracing of 
likenesses and divergencies must help to inculcate correct notions. 

To meet the needs of all pupils living under the various forms of 
local government, two outlines of each form are, no doubt, necessary. 
One should be very full and complete for the student who lives under 
that particular form of government and is to get his apperceptive 
material from it. The other should be comparatively brief for the pupil 
living under another form of local government, who needs to know 
only the essential features of local governments not his own. Such 
a double set of outlines would make this syllabus too bulky. The 
fuller outlines, therefore, have been given for the county, the New 
England town, and the city; the briefer outlines for the others. It is 
left for the teacher who lives under any one of the forms’of local govern¬ 
ment more briefly outlined here to elaborate and complete the outline 
of his own government, and also to eliminate much of the detail given 
in the outlines of county, town, and city. 

REFERENCES 

Fairlie, J. A., Local Government in Counties , Towns and Villages. 

Howard, G. E., Local Constitutional History in the United States. 

Fiske, John, Civil Government. 

Bryce, James, American Commonwealth , Vol. I, Chaps. 48 and 49. 

Wilson, Woodrow, The State, 995-1045. 

Evans, L. B. (Editor), Handbooks of American Government. 

I. Forms of Local Government. 

1. The County. 

2. The Town or Township. 

3. The School District. 

4. County Districts. 

5. The Village or Borough. 

6. The City. 

II. Their Relation to the State. 

1. They are corporations or quasi-corporations created or 
recognized by the state. 

















































































































































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i6 


American Civil Government 


2. They are agents of the state for the discharge of certain 

business of the state. 

3. They are governmental organizations charged by the state 

with the control of certain local affairs. 

III. Their Relation to Each Other. 

1. The towns (townships), villages, and cities are all subdivi¬ 

sions of the county; but 

2. The authority of all the local governments is derived directly 

from the state, and 

3. The county generally exercises but little control over its sub¬ 

divisions in the discharge of their functions. 

IV. Systems of Rural Local Government. 

1. The County system of the Southern, Mountain, and Pacific 

states, in which the county is the chief organ of local 
government. 

2. The Town system of the New England states, in which the 

town is the chief organ of local government. 

3. The County-Township system of the Central and Middle- 

Western states, in which the functions of local government 
are more evenly divided between the county and its sub¬ 
divisions. 

V. The County. 

MATERIAL NEEDED 

Map of student’s state showing counties. 

Enlarged map of student’s county showing subdivisions. 

Reports of the officers of the county. 

Ballots used at election of county officers. 

A complete file of legal notices from the local paper. 

Copies of the more common legal blanks. 

The state constitution and Revised Statutes. 

The state manual. 

The political, civil and criminal codes, if the pupil’s state has them. 

VISITS 

If the county seat is accessible, 

To the county courthouse when the court is not in session. 

To the county court in session. 












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i8 


American Civil Government 


To the county jail and house of correction. 

To the county registries. 

To the county executive offices. 

1. Brief history of the county, 

a. In England. 

b. In the American colonies, 

(1) In Virginia. 

(2) In New England. 

(3) In the middle colonies of New York and Pennsylvania. 

2. Place of the county in local government. 

a. It is the largest corporate subdivision of a state or terri¬ 

tory established for the purpose of local government. 

b. It is created by the state, either 

(1) By permission of the Constitution or 

(2) By legislative enactment. 

How and when was your county established ? 

c. Number, area, and population. 

(1) Number in the United States (census of 1900) 2852. 
Numbers in the several states vary from 3 in Dela¬ 
ware to 243 in Texas. 

How many counties in your state ? 

(2) Area varies from that of Bristol County, R. I. (25 

square miles), to that of Custer County, Montana 
(20,490 square miles). 

What is the area of your county ? 

(3) Population varies from 4 (Brown County, Texas) 

to 2,050,600 in New York County, New York. 

What is the population of your county ? 

3. Functions of the county. Fairlie, Local Government in 

Counties, Towns and Villages, Chap. 4. 
a. Functions performed as agent of the central government 
of the state. 

(1) The administration of justice (in all the states). 

































































































































20 


American Civil Government 


(2) The collection of state taxes (in most of the states). 

(3) The holding of state elections (in most of the states). 

(4) The probating of wills and recording of land titles (in 

most of the states). 

b. Functions generally performed as an organ of local gov¬ 
ernment. 

(1) The levying and collecting of local (county) taxes. 

(2) The administration or supervision of schools. 

(3) The administration of charities and corrections. 

(4) The construction and maintenance of local public 

works. 

(5) The holding of local elections. 

(6) The enactment of police regulations, e.g. for the control 

of the liquor traffic. 

4. Organs of government of the county. 

a. Officers connected with the courts. 

(1) The county judge. 

The judge is frequently chosen for a district including 
more than one county, but he always holds court 
in each county in his district. 

(2) The probate judge. 

The functions of the probate judge are frequently 
vested in the county judge. 

(3) The sheriff. 

(4) The coroner. 

(5) The prosecuting attorney. 

(6) The clerk of the court. 

b. Non judicial officers. 

(1) The county board, two types. 

(a) The board of commissioners, as in Indiana. 

(b) The board of supervisors, as in New York. 

(2) The auditor. 

(3) The treasurer. 













































































































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22 


American Civil Government 


(4) The recorder or register of deeds. 

(5) The surveyor. 

(6) The superintendent of schools. 

(7) The assessor. 

Compare this list of officers with those to be found in 
your county. 

c. Methods of selecting county officers. 

d. Terms of office. 

e. Remuneration. 

(1) By fee. 

(2) By salary. 

/. Powers and duties. 

Note that in the government of the county the threefold 
separation of powers (executive, legislative, and judi¬ 
cial) is not made to any extent. 

Learn the powers and duties of these officers (and any 
others which there may be) in your own county. 

VI. The Town or Township. 

REFERENCES 

Howard, G. E., Local Constitutional History of the United States. 

Fairlie, J. A., Local Government in Counties, Towns and Villages. 

Buchanan, W. E., Powers, Duties and Liabilities of Towns and Town Officers in 
Massachusetts. 

Fiske, John, Civil Government, Chap. II. 

Butler, W. R., Government in the New England States. 

MATERIAL NEEDED 

Town reports and copies of town warrants from larger and smaller towns. 

Tax bills and other town documents. 

VISIT 

The town meeting. 

1. Brief history of the town in New England. 

2. Brief history of the adoption of town (township) government 
N in the West. 








































































































































24 


American Civil Government 


3. Town (township) created by the state. 

a. By special legislative enactment. 

b. By the people of a community under the authorization of 

a general law. 

4. Functions of the town (township). 

Widely varying in different states. Compare the functions 
of your own town or township with those of your county. 

5. Organs of government of the New England town. 

a. The legislative department — the town meeting. 

(1) Composed of all the voters of the town, — an example 

of pure democracy. 

(2) Method of calling the town meeting. The warrant. 

(3) Method of conducting the town meeting. 

(4) Functions of the town meeting. 

Election of a moderator. 

Election of town officers. 

Making of appropriations. 

Enactment of ordinances or by-laws for the town. 
Review the classification of laws (page 6) and place by¬ 
laws in their proper relation to other forms of law. 

b. The executive department. 

(1) The board of selectmen. 

(a) Number. 

(b) Term. 

(c) Functions. 

(2) School committee. 

(a) Number. 

(b) Term. 

( c ) Functions. 

(3) Other officers. 

(a) Town clerk. 

(b) Board of assessors. 

( c ) Tax collector. 




























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26 


American Civil Government 


(< d) Treasurer. 

(e) Board of overseers of the poor. 

(/) Constables. 

(g) Auditors. 

(k) Superintendent of streets. 

(i) Fence viewers. 

( j ) Pound keepers. 

( k ) Surveyors of wood and lumber. 

( l ) Sealers of weights and measures. 

Duties of each to be briefly treated. 
c. The judicial department. 

Strictly speaking, the town has no judicial department, 
but local courts for the trying of minor cases are held 
in each town or in districts comprising a few towns. 
These are called police courts, trial justices, or district 
courts. The judges are usually appointed by the 
governor, but in Vermont, Connecticut, and Rhode 
Island the voters choose justices of the peace, who have 
minor judicial functions. 

Topics for discussion and questions. 

(i) Relation of town to county and state. 

(a) Has the state a right to require and control the 

education of its youth ? 

(b) Does this right to direct the education of its 

youth carry with it the right to abolish, control, 
or assist private schools ? 

(c) The work of the school committee. Is this com¬ 

mittee a legislative, executive, or judicial body? 

(d) What constitutes the judicial department of your 

town? Under what authority does it act ? 

(e) If a bridge is to be built across a river which 

separates your town from another town, who 
has charge of the matter ? 



























































































































































































28 


American Civil Government 


(/) What authorities may have to do with the roads 
in your town ? 

(2) Town finances. 

(a) The assessment and collection of taxes. What 

is real estate and what personal property (see 
p. 60). 

(b ) The work of the auditor. How may money be 

drawn from the town treasury ? 

(c) Has your town any debts ? How are they to be 

paid ? How does your town borrow money ? 

(2) What officers or departments are found in larger but 
not in smaller towns ? why ? 

6. Organs of government of the town or township of the central 
and western states. Fairlie, Local Government in Counties, 
Towns and Villages, Chap. 9. 

a. Legislative department. 

(1) Types. 

(a) Town meeting. In New York and Illinois, much 

like that of New England though less authori¬ 
tative, i.e. in New York no power to tax. 

(b) Township trustees. 

Of which type is your town ? 

(2) Functions of legislative department, widely varying. 

Study the legislative functions of your own town 
or township. 

b. The executive department. 

(1) Types. 

(a) The board of supervisors or trustees, as in Penn- 

sylvania, Ohio, Iowa, Minnesota and the Da¬ 
kotas. Compare with the board of selectmen 
in New England. 

( b ) A single officer, called the supervisor in New 

York, Michigan and Illinois, the town chair- 































































































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• 








. 
















































30 


American Civil Government 


man in Wisconsin, and the township trustee in 
Indiana, Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma. 

(i c ) Other officers. 

The township board. 

The treasurer. 

The clerk. 

Assessors. 

Overseer of the poor (in a few states). 

Highway commissioners (in a few states). 
Constables. 

c. The judicial department. 

Justices of the peace are usually elected in townships, 
and in many states their jurisdiction is confined to the 
township in which they are elected. But they are 
generally regarded as county rather than township 
officers. 

VII. School districts. Fairlie, Local Government in Counties, Towns 
and Villages, 182-185. 

1. In the central states, the school district is a local corporation 

distinct from the township, but frequently comprising the 
same area. 

2. Organs of government. 

a. The school meeting, comprising all the voters. In many 

states, women may vote at these meetings. 

b. The school trustees, variously known as school directors, 

board of education or township trustee. “ Where there 
are no school meetings of voters, these officers have full 
control. Where there are such meetings they carry 
out the votes passed, appoint teachers, determine the 
course of study, and manage the finances of the schools.” 
— Fairlie, Local Government in Counties, Towns and 
Villages, 184. 

3. Functions of government. 




























































































. 





























































































32 


American Civil Government 


1 a. Elect school officers. 

b. Vote school taxes. 

c. Locate school sites, and decide other questions of school 

management. 

VIII. County districts. Fairlie, Local Government in Counties, Towns 
and Villages, Chap. io. 

In many states of the South and West, the counties are not 
divided into towns or townships, but many special districts 
are created for special purposes. They are too numerous 
and of too great variety for enumeration here. 

IX. The Village. Fairlie, Local Government in Counties, Towns 
and Villages, Chap. n. 

A semiurban, semirural district organized by the state as a 
corporation. 

1. Method of incorporation. 

a. Usually on the initiative of the people concerned. 

b. In many states the question of incorporation must be 

submitted to popular vote. 

c. In many states, only communities of a certain minimum 

population may be incorporated. 

2. Organs of government. 

a. The legislative department — the village council or board 

of trustees. 

(1) Number, 3 to 9. 

(2) Term, 1, 2, or 3 years. 

b. The executive department. 

(1) The mayor or president or chairman of the board of 

trustees. 

(2) Minor officers. 

(a) Clerk or recorder. 

( b ) Treasurer or collector. 

( c ) Constable or marshal. 

(1 d ) Street commissioners. 






























. 







































34 


American Civil Government 


c. The judicial department. 

Many villages have a justice of the peace, but he is a 
county rather than a village officer. 

Many villages are constituted as school districts with the 
usual officers. 

3. Functions of government. 

The village exists almost entirely for the purpose of local 
government, almost its only function for the state being the 
preservation of the peace. Village functions generally 
include — 

a. The levying of local taxes. 

b. The maintenance of fire, water and light departments. 

c. The control of streets, bridges and public works. 

d. The regulation of public health and sanitation. 






































I 







. 










. 


. 

. 






















CHAPTER III 


local government, continued ; city government 
A. METHOD AND EQUIPMENT 

If the student lives in a city, the machinery of his own city govern¬ 
ment in actual operation should be the basis and starting point of his 
study, as town, county, village, or borough government in actual opera¬ 
tion should be the basis and starting point for the study of the pupil 
who lives under any one of these forms of local government. The 
student, however, who lives in a town, county, village, or borough, 
and begins his study with local government, may not find it necessary 
to give it so much time, but may soon pass to the consideration of his 
state government; for his local government offers no very, extended 
field for study, and is in itself more or less incomplete and rudimentary. 
But the city student of local government has a large and important 
field open to him, and he may well afford the time to investigate it; 
for his city government miniatures to a greater or less degree his state 
government, and in becoming thoroughly conversant with its organs 
and their functions he is laying a strong apperceptive basis for the study 
of state government, which may, in consequence, be grasped by him 
in much less time than must be devoted to it by the non-city pupil. 

Although the following syllabus is designed to meet the needs and 
opportunities of the city pupil, it will serve, with some adaptation, for 
a guide to the rural pupil’s study of city government. For the rural 
student’s use, the teacher is advised to make the following adaptation: 

1. Omit much of the detail. 

2. Supply the place of visits (wherever pupils are not near enough 

36 




























































. 

3 













































♦ 

















3« 


American Civil Government 


to some city to make visits feasible) by pictures and descrip¬ 
tions. 

3. Use the pupil’s own local government — village, town, or county 
— which will already have been studied, as an apperceptive 
basis, comparing each main feature of *the city government 
with the corresponding feature of his local government. 

At the very outset, the student of city government should visit the 
three departments of it a sufficient number of times to gain a general 
idea of their constitution and operation. It is best to begin with the 
legislative department. A fairly clear knowledge of this department 
and its operation will require several visits, while many of the executive 
offices may be inspected in a general way in a single afternoon. One 
or two visits to the local court will be sufficient. The teacher will, 
of course, take his class to see the registration of voters, to the registry 
of deeds, to a caucus, to such nominating conventions as may be held 
in the city, and to the polls on election day. 

Besides a good textbook in civics, there is needed for the study of 
city government the following material: 

MATERIAL 

The city charter and ordinances. 

The municipal manual for the current year (a copy for each pupil). 

A map of the city showing the ward lines. 

A complete file of the city council calendar. 

Copies of bills in the various stages of their progress. 

The annual reports of all the administrative boards and heads of departments. 

The printed forms used in the offices of the clerk, the treasurer, the auditor or con¬ 
troller, and the board of assessors. 

A declaration of taxable property, and a tax bill. 

A check list of voters for each ward of the city. 

Copies of the tally sheets used at city, state and national elections. 

A caucus ballot (if any are used). 

Copies of delegates’ credentials. 

Certificates of nomination. 

Independent nomination papers. 

A copy of the jury list. 

















































































































































































40 


American Civil Government 


A full set of legal forms used in civil and criminal actions. 

A quitclaim and a warranty deed. 

A complete file of legal notices from the daily papers. 

The bulletin board will be in constant use. The daily posting of clippings from the 
local press concerning the municipal government may be given over to a com¬ 
mittee of members of the class, which may be changed each week. Upon the 
basis of empirical knowledge gained through visits, these clippings will not only 
furnish much knowledge of the actual working of the municipal machinery, but 
will also serve to sustain a lively interest by keeping the class in close touch with 
the actual government of the city from day to day and from week to week. 


B. INTRODUCTORY STUDY 

REFERENCES 

Bryce, James, The American Commonwealth, Vol. I, Chaps. L-LII. 
Goodnow, F. J. (i) City Government in the United States. 

(2) Municipal Problems. 

(3) Municipal Home Rule. 

(4) Municipal Government. 

Wilcox, D. F., The American City. 

Howe, Frederick, The City, the Hope of Democracy. 

Eaton, D. B., Government of Municipalities: 

Fairlie, J. A., Municipal Administration. 

Hart, A. B., Actual Government, Chaps. XI and XII. 

James and Sanford, Government in State and Nation, 26-47. 

Ashley, R. L., American Federal State, Chap. XXI. 

Hatton, A. R., Digest of City Charters. 

I. A brief study of the rise and growth of cities in the United States. 

1. Compare the number and size of cities at the time of the first 

census with the number and size of cities at the present 
time. 

2. Compute the percentage of urban to rural population at each 

of the above-mentioned periods. 

3. Try to discover the causes for this flowing of population toward 

cities. Bryce, The American Commonwealth, I, 622; Hart, 
Actual Government, 181, 182, 201, 202; Goodnow, Munic¬ 
ipal Government, 4-14. 




























IV . . } 



















































































42 


American Civil Government 


II. The history of the change of government in the pupil’s community 
from town, village, borough, or county, to city. References: 
town and city records at city clerk’s office ; the local history. 

III. Reasons for the change. 

1. Town government inadequate for dealing with the many 

problems of protection, cooperation, and promotion of the 
common welfare which present themselves to the inhabitants 
of large, thickly settled districts. 

a. Make a list of things which the rural citizen does not need, 

or can furnish for himself, but which the urban citizen 
does need and cannot furnish for himself; e.g., a water 
supply, sewer system, street lights, garbage removal; 
protection from contagious diseases, from fire, etc. 

b. Make a list of the things which the rural citizen may do 

without interfering with his neighbor’s interests, but 
which the urban citizen cannot; e.g., keep pigs, burn 
rubbish, etc. 

2. Town meetings inconvenient and even impossible when a 

community has reached a certain size. 

IV. A village or borough a sort of incipient city; its form of govern¬ 

ment suited to the needs of a somewhat thickly settled but 
comparatively small district. Hart, Actual Government, 169, 
170; Forman, Advanced Civics, 216-218. 

V. Preliminary study of the city charter. Ashley, The American 
Federal State, 406-407. 

Review the classification of law r (p. 6) and place the charter 
in its proper relation to other forms of law. 

1. The charter the fundamental law of the city, granted by the 
state legislature in one of the following ways: 

a. By an act of special legislation; i.e., giving each individual 

city a charter peculiar to itself. Most New England 
city charters are of this kind. 

b. Under general statute which, 













































































































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44 


American Civil Government 


(1) Enacts general form of charter applicable to all cities 

of a certain size within the state; or 

(2) In a few states, for example Illinois, enacts municipal 

corporation acts which control city governments 
only in the larger features, and allows a compara¬ 
tively large range of powers and liberties; or 

(3) In some states, for example Missouri, California, Min¬ 

nesota, and Washington, grants cities above a certain 
size the privilege of drawing up — subject only to 
the general provisions of the Constitution — their own 
charters. 

Under which one of these methods was your city charter 
made and adopted? 

2. Contents of the charter. 

a. Divides territory into wards and precincts. 

b. Describes form of government. 

Note. — If town government has previously been studied, 
note the new principle in city government. 

c. Provides for the election or appointment of officers, and 

describes their qualifications, duties, and powers, or gives 
over to the city council the power to regulate these things 
by ordinance. Hart, Actual Government , 183-185. 

3. Amendments, how made. 

a. By special enactment of the legislature, or 

b. Under general statutes, 

(1) Obligatory, 

(2) Permissive. 

4. Revision, how made. 

5. If the time will allow, compare charter of your city with that 

of a neighboring city, and note difference in length and in 
general content. See what provisions and regulations found 
in the charter of one city are found in the ordinances of the 
other. Bryce, The American Commonwealth , I, 623; Hart, 
Actual Government, 183-188; Howe, The City, Chap. XI. 





























































































46 


American Civil Government 


C. THE MACHINERY OF CITY GOVERNMENT AND 
ITS OPERATION 

REFERENCES 

Hart, A. B., Actual Government, 180-199. 

James and Sanford, Government in State and Nation , 26-47 
Goodnow, F. J., (1) City Government in the United States. 

(2) Municipal Government, Chaps. X and XI. 

A Municipal Program. (Macmillan Co.) 

Wilcox, D. F., American City. 

Eaton, D. B., Government of Municipalities. 

I. The legislative department. 

1. Organization and membership. 

a. Organization; learn 

(1) The official name of your city legislature. 

(2) Whether it is unicameral (of one chamber) or bicameral 

(of two chambers). 

(3) Which of these is most common in American cities? 

Ashley, American Federal State , 407; Eaton, Govern¬ 
ment of Municipalities , 306. 

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the bi¬ 
cameral and of the unicameral organization. Eaton, 
Government of Municipalities , 304-305. 

(4) The officers (of each chamber if bicameral), and how 

chosen. 

b. Membership; learn 

(1) Number of members (of each chamber if bicameral). 

(2) Compare size with that of other city councils. 

(3) Members, how nominated. 

(a) By party caucus. 

(b) By petition, “nomination paper.” Seep. 178; Eaton, 

Government of Municipalities, 210-224; Goodnow, 
Municipal Government, 156-158. 





American Civil Government 


(4) Whether elected by districts (wards) or at large. Ash¬ 

ley, American Federal State, 407. 

Compare methods used in other cities, and consider 
again the advantages of either method, or a com¬ 
bination of both. Seep. 178; Goodnow, Municipal 
Government , 183-185. Does the statement that 
“petty districts will be represented by petty men ” 
apply in the election of city councilmen ? 

(5) Principle of representation under which elected — ma¬ 

jority, minority, proportional, or class. J. R. Com¬ 
mons, Proportional Representation; Goodnow, Mu¬ 
nicipal Government, 185-187. 

(6) Qualifications of members. 

(7) Term of service. 

Compare length of term with that of councilmen in 
other cities. 

Discuss advantages and disadvantages of long terms, 
of short terms, and of partial, periodical election. 
Goodnow, City Government in the United States , 160; 
Ashley, American Federal State, 407. 

(8) Salary. Eaton, Government of Municipalities, 303. 

(9) Time of meeting. 

Compare with custom of other cities. 

Powers and duties. Goodnow, City Government in the United 
States, 165. 

a. The city council sometimes has power to decide questions 
regarding the qualification and election of its members; 
but usually state courts have either original or final juris¬ 
diction over this matter. 

It may fix its own rules of procedure in so far as they are 
not fixed by the charter. 

h. The business transacted by the city council is mainly legis¬ 
lative, and falls under two general heads : 











■ 













- 








































4 


. 




. 







5 ° 


American Civil Government 


(1) Control of finances, including — 

(a) Taxation and appropriation. 1 
(i b ) Borrowing. 

(c) Care of city property. 

Make a list of the purposes for which your city council 
may levy taxes and appropriate money. 

(2) Passing ordinances. 

Place ordinances in proper relation to other forms of 
law in your tabulated classification. (See p. 6.) 
Ordinance power implied or expressly enumerated in 
city charters. 

See your city charter and ordinances ; Goodnow, City 
Government in the United States, 164-167. 

c. In some cities, the council carries- on, through its standing 

committees, considerable executive or administrative 
business. Hart, Actual Government, 191. 

What power has your city council : 

(1) Over the administrative departments, such as the 
police, the fire, and the street departments; the water 
board, and the school committee ? 

(2) To make contracts ? 

(3) To grant franchises ? 

(4) Over the bonded debt and the sinking fund ? 

d. Power of appointment. 

3. Method of legislation in the city council. 
a. Committees: 

(1) Advantages and disadvantages of the employment of 
committees in legislative business. 

(2) Committees chosen in two ways, — by the presiding 
officer (or officers, if the council is bicameral) or by the 
council itself. 

1 Note, however, such exceptions to the taxing power as that of the New York 
charter. 
































' 


















42 C 
























































































































52 


American Civil Government 


(3) Learn the names of the standing committees of your 
city council, how they are appointed, and get some 
idea of the business handled by each. 

b. Follow the course of a bill from its introduction till it be¬ 

comes an ordinance; tabulate the steps. Butler, Gov¬ 
ernment of the New England States , 40-43. 

c. If your city council is bicameral, learn what is meant by a 

joint vote, and by a concurrent vote. In either method 
of voting, compare the relative weight or influence of 
the vote of a member in the upper chamber with that of a 
member in the lower chamber. 

II. The executive department. 

Hart, Actual Government, 192-197; Ashley, American Federal 
State, 408-410; Goodnow, City Government in the United States, 
Chap. VIII: The city charter and ordinances. 

1. The mayor. 

a. Learn the mayor’s official title; how he is elected ; his term 

of office; how he may be removed from office; who acts 
in his place in case of his disability or absence ; his salary 
and who fixes it. 

b. What are the mayor’s chief duties as executive head of the 

city government ? 

c. What power has he to make appointments and removals, 

and how is this power limited? (See D, II and III 
below, and cf. diagram, p. 64.) 

d. What legislative power has the mayor ? That is, to what 

extent can he influence the legislation of the city council ? 
Has he any judicial functions? Goodnow, Municipal 
Government, 212. 

2. Other executive officers. 

a. Make a list of the other executive officers and heads of 
departments; state how they are chosen (see D, II, below), 
and mention their chief duties. 









- 










- 















. 


’ 

































54 


American Civil Government 


b. Make a list of the various boards and commissions in your 

city, and give an outline of their duties and powers. 

c. Ward officers; their qualifications; method of choosing; 

duties. 

d. Executive powers of the city council (or either branch, 

if it is bicameral). (See I, 2, c.) 

III. The judicial department. 

Baldwin, American Judiciary , Chapter VIII; Goodnow, City 
Government in the United States, 205-214. 

1. Two kinds of minor courts found in American cities. 

a. The corporation courts : i.e., city, municipal, or police courts. 

b. Local courts of the state system : i.e., district courts. 

These courts have jurisdiction over civil causes where the 

amount in question is small (the limit being set by state 
law in the different states), and over criminal causes where 
the fine is small or the term of imprisonment short. 
They also have preliminary jurisdiction (see p. 108) of 
more important causes. 

These courts for the most part proceed by summary process, 
i.e., without a jury ; and appeal may be had to the higher 
courts. Judges of both classes of courts are appointed 
by one of the following authorities: 

(1) By the governor of the state. 

(2) By the state legislature. 

(3) By the city council. 

(4) By the mayor and council. 

(5) By the mayor. 

(6) Elected by the people. 

(See p. 26). 

2. There are in some cities probate courts which have charge of 

the proving of wills, the settlement of estates, the appoint¬ 
ment of guardians, etc. (See p. 20.) 

Note. — Of course, if a city happens to comprise a whole 








































































• 










































































5 ^ 


American Civil Government 


county, or if it happens to be tlie county seat (see p. 20), 
the higher or county court sits within its borders also. 

3. What courts are there in your city; under what authority 

established, and over what kind of cases do they have juris¬ 
diction ? 

Are offenses against city ordinances and against state laws 
judged in the same court ? 

Is there a juvenile court? 

Is the judgment of all or any of these courts final? How are 
the judges and clerks chosen? How long are their terms? 

4. Steps in the trial of a civil and of a criminal cause will be studied 

in connection with the state judiciary, p. 108. 

Note. — It is quite customary to omit the study of the judi¬ 
cial department when studying local government, on the 
ground that the judiciary is more completely under the control 
of the state than are the other departments of government, 
and can best be studied longitudinally, that is, from the 
lowest to the highest courts, as an isolated department of 
government. To some extent the same argument might be 
made for studying the legislative and the executive depart¬ 
ments separately, for in this way the relation of the state 
legislature and its laws to the city council and its ordinances, 
and the relation of state administrative to local administra¬ 
tive officers, can best be brought out. But experience shows 
that it is best to study the three departments of government, 
and afterward to take up the study of the departments 
longitudinally for the purpose of bringing out the interre¬ 
lations of the higher and lower powers in each department. 


D. CHOICE OF CITY OFFICERS 

I. By nomination and election. (To be studied during the time of 
elections. See p. 180.) 
























































. 































. 




























* 























58 American Civil Government 

II. By appointment. (See diagram, p. 64.) 

By which of the following methods are appointments made in your 
city? 

1. By city council (or one of its branches). 

2. By mayor, subject to the approval of city council (or one of its 

branches). 

3. By mayor. 

4. Of subordinate officers, clerks, etc., by heads of departments 

and boards. 

5. By some state authority. 

Discuss Chief Justice Ryan’s dictum, “ Where you want 
skill, you must appoint; where you want representation, 
elect.” 

6. If your city or state has a civil service commission, learn its 

powers and duties, and the regulations under which it fur¬ 
nishes a list of eligible candidates for administrative offices. 
References: your city charter and ordinances; Hart, Actual 
Government , 198-199 ; Municipal Program, 204-215 ; Reports 
and Documents of the United States Civil Service Commission ; 
Reports and Documents of the Massachusetts Civil Service 
Reform Association. 

III. Removals. 

How made in your city? 


E. TAXATION AND MUNICIPAL FINANCES 

REFERENCES 

Hart, Actual Government , 383-394. 

Ashley, American Federal State, 478-482. 

Goodnow, Municipal Government , Chap. XVI. 

Your city annual reports. 

I. Indirect taxation. (To be considered in connection with federal 
government.) 

















































* 

K' 































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. 


















































6 o 


American Civil Government 


II. Direct taxation. 

1. Poll or per capita tax. 

Paid by whom ? Rate by whom determined ? Compare 
rates in several states. 

2. Property tax. 

Paid by whom ? 

a. Personal property. 

What portion exempt ? 

b. Real estate. 

What portion exempt ? 

3. Study method of appraising property and assessing taxes 

followed in your city. (The Board of Assessors will give 
full information, blank forms, etc.) 

4. Purpose of direct taxes assessed upon citizens, to carry 0:1: 

a. City government. 

b. County or district government. 

c. State government. 

What is the amo nt for each of these purposes levied by 
your city for the current year ? 

What is your city tax rate for the current year ? 

Compare the rates for the last twenty years. (An excellent 
way to represent fluctuations of tax rate and valuation 
is by means of graphs.) 

How does assessment for supposed improvement of adjoin¬ 
ing property, “betterment tax,” differ from taxation? 

5. How money may be drawn from the city treasury. 

III. Financial standing of the city. 

1. Study the balance sheet or financial statement of your city 
for last year with a view to ascertaining: 

a. The amount and source of the city’s receipts for the 
year. 

b. The amount and purpose of the city’s expenditures for the 
year. 






































































. 











62 


American Civil Government 


c. The gross debt, consisting of: 

(1) The temporary or floating debt. 

(2) The funded debt. 

How are these debts to be paid ? 

d. Sinking fund. 

2. What is the borrowing capacity of your city? How near is it 
at the present time to its debt limit ? 

Compare your city in each point under 1 and 2 with some 
neighboring city of about the same size. 


F. RELATION OF CITY TO STATE 

REFERENCES 

Goodnow, (1) Municipal Problems. 

(2) Municipal Home Rule. 

I. The twofold function of the city government: 

1. An institution for local self-government. 

2. A servant of the state for carrying on certain business intrusted 

to it. 

Discuss the statement that in the performance of the first func¬ 
tion, in so far as it does not affect the rest of the state, the city 
should be free from state interference and control. In the 
performance of the second class of duties, the city should be 
under the control of the state (See VI below). This control 
may be executive — see state administrative boards, and 
consider what city officers transact both city and state busi¬ 
ness — or legislative, or judicial. What is the degree of state 
control in each of these departments as compared with that 
in the other two ? Goodnow, Municipal Home Rule; Eaton, 
Government of Municipalities, 13 - 15 , et passim ; Hart, Actual 
Government, 184-188. 

























































' 











6 4 


American Civil Government 


The relation of city to 
diagram like the following, 
city. 


state government may be shown by a 
The student should make one for his own 

























































































































66 


American Civil Government 


G. A PRELIMINARY DISCUSSION OF SOME OF THE 
PRINCIPLES UNDERLYING MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT 

REFERENCES 

Goodnow, Municipal Problems. 

Fairlie, Municipal Administration. 

Rowe, L. S., Problems of City Government. 

When the pupil has done the work outlined in the above topics and 
has gained some knowledge of the machinery of city government and 
its functions, he will be ready to consider some of the problems of 
municipal government, and to discuss some of its principles. 

I. The theory of representation. 

1. If town government has already been studied, compare it 

with city government. 

2. Discuss district (ward) representation vs. representation at 

large, in city government (see VI, 2, d, below). Goodnow, 
Municipal Problems, 151-152; Municipal Program, 216. 
II. The theory of separation of departments of government. Re¬ 
view p. 10 (e) ; Eaton, Government of Municipalities, 
248-252 ; Goodnow, City Government in the United States, 
189-191; Municipal Program, 79. 

III. Centralization vs. decentralization of executive power and 

responsibility in city government. Hart, Actual Government, 
192-194; Eaton, Government of Municipalities, 14-15, 254- 
256 ; Fiske, Civil Government, rev. ed., 13 7-139. 

IV. Discuss: 

1. Examples which have come under student’s observation of 

governmental cooperation by federal, state, and local gov¬ 
ernment; 

2. The various phases of local governmental cooperation as 

shown in: 

a. The building and maintaining a street or a school. 

b. The establishment and operation of a water system. 
































































. * 
























American Civil Government 


c. Municipal ownership of public utilities. Howe, The City , 
The Hope of Democracy , Chaps. VIII-IX. 

Compare self-supporting or revenue-producing public 
utilities (waterworks, lighting plants, etc.) with enter¬ 
prises from which no direct money value is returned ( e.g ., 
schools, streets, and bridges). 

Should the city furnish free textbooks in schools ? 

Should the city furnish free lunches to high-school pupils ? 
Should the city furnish lunches at cost ? 

Has cooperation a value beyond its economic value? 

V. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of administrative 

boards as compared with commissioners or single heads of 
departments. 

1. Boards are better equipped for legislation ; by giving popular 

control, awaken public interest. E.g., the school board. 

2. The single commissioner or head of department acts quicker ; 
. is chiefly administrative. 

“The qualities desired in municipal administrative force are 
two in number: they are amenability to popular control 
and administrative efficiency.” Goodnow, City Govern¬ 
ment in the United States, 185. 

What is the practice in German cities ? In English cities ? 
Munro, W. B., The Government of European Municipalities; 
Wilcox, American City, 202-206; Goodnow, City Govern¬ 
ment in the United States, 191-199. 

Would not a board with partial, periodic renewal, which should 
employ an expert administrative officer with unlimited term 
of office, meet best the above-mentioned demands? 

VI. Discuss some of the proposed reforms in city organization: 

1. Home rule, and a more powerful municipal legislation. 

2. The securing of better men in municipal offices by: 

a. The separation of city elections from state and national 
elections. 



70 


American Civil Government 


b. The reduction of the number of municipal offices to be 

filled by election. 

c. Nomination by citizens’ petition instead of by party 

caucus. 

d. Election, partial or complete, “ at large ” rather than 

by wards. 

3. Continuous legislative body. 

4. Uniform municipal accounting. 

VII. Consider further the value of self-control to cities, to student 

bodies, to individuals, 

VIII. Urge pupils to bring to class illustrative evidence, from the 
acts of citizens in school and out, of good citizenship and of 
poor citizenship. Let such acts be rigidly proved to be 
evidences of good or bad citizenship; e.g., show just how it 
is robbery to leave the water faucet running or to throw lunch 
wrappers in a neighbor’s yard. 
























































































































CHAPTER IV 


STATE GOVERNMENT 
REFERENCES 

Bryce, James, American Commonwealth, Vol. I. 

Cooley, T. M., (i) Principles of Constitutional Law. 

(2) Constitutional Limitations. 

Evans, L. B., Handbooks of American Government, especially Morey’s Government 
of New York. 

Wilson, Woodrow, The State. 

Stimson, F. J., The Law of the Federal and State Constitutions of the United States. 

Hart, A. B., Actual Government, Part III. 

Ashley, R. L., American Federal State. 

MATERIAL NEEDED 

Each pupil should have at hand, beside his textbook : 

A copy of the constitution of his state. 

The Manual of his state legislature. 

This book usually contains a complete list of the legislative, executive, and 
judicial departments of the state government, the rules of the two branches 
of the legislature, the composition of the legislative committees, a com¬ 
plete statement of the various elective districts of the state, and a great 
amount of statistical data that is of the highest value in the study of the 
state government. 

The map which the student has previously made (see Nominations and 
Elections, p. 176) containing the outlines of the various elective districts in 
which he lives. 

A complete file of ballots used at state and national elections. 

Blank forms on which petitions and bill are to be submitted to the legisla¬ 
ture. 

Sample bills from each chamber of the legislature. 

Copies of the Calendar, the Journal, and the Bulletin of Committee Hearings 
of each chamber. 

A volume of the laws made during one session of the legislature. 

A copy of the Revised Statutes of student’s state. 


72 


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74 


American Civil Government 


The Reports of the various state administrative departments. 

A large wall map showing the counties and smaller civil divisions of student’s 
state. 

On the years when the legislature is in session the bulletin board will be kept 
supplied with clippings from the daily press giving reports of the doings at 
the state capitol. These clippings may be filed for use during the years 
when there is no session of the legislature. 

I. Brief study of the origin and development of state government. 

Fiske, Civil Government, Chap. VI. 

1. Colonial government. 

a. In the northern, the central, and the southern colonies. 

b. The three kinds of colonial government: 

(1) Charter or Republican. 

(2) Proprietary. 

(3) Royal. 

2. Transition from colonial to state government. Bryce, Ameri¬ 

can Commonwealth , Vol. I, Chap. XXXVII. 

II. The State Constitution. 


REFERENCES 

Ashley, American Federal State , Chap. XVIII. 

Cooley, Constitutional Limitations, Chap. III. 

Bryce, American Commonwealth, Vol. I, Chaps. XXXVII and XXXVIII. 

Fiske, Civil Government, Chap. VII. 

For definition and classification of constitutions see Theory of the State, III, 2. 

1. The method of making constitutions. Learn when, by whom, 

and under what circumstances your state constitution was 
made. 

2. Does it lack any of the following parts : 

a. Preamble. 

b. Bill of Rights. 

c. Frame of Government. 

d. Miscellaneous Provisions. 

e. Amendments. 




























































































































American Civil Government 


3. If there is a preamble, make an abstract of its contents. 

4. The Bill of Rights : 

a. Derived from what sources? Hill, Mabel, Liberty Docu¬ 

ments. 

b. Make a list of the rights enumerated, and compare them 

with those found in the Magna Charta, the English 
Petition of Right , and the Bill of Rights , the Declara¬ 
tion of Independence and the Constitution of the United 
States. 

5. The Frame of Government: take a preliminary view of : — 

a. The constitution and powers of the Legislative Depart¬ 

ment. 

b. The Executive Department. 

c. The Judicial Department. 

6. Miscellaneous Provisions: 

For the most part these are more properly considered provi¬ 
sions of statute law placed in the constitution. Why is 
this done? Compare the number and content of these 
provisions in your state constitution with the number 
and content of those of some of the more recent constitu¬ 
tions, for example that of the state of Washington, and also 
with one of the older constitutions, e.g. , that of Massachu¬ 
setts. 

7. Amendments: 

a. Compare the number and contents of the amendments 

of your state constitution with those of some other 
state. 

b. Method of making amendments. 

The steps are: 

(1) The proposal. 

(2) The ratification. 

Study the details of these steps in making amend¬ 
ments to your state constitution. 










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78 American Civil Government 

III. The Legislative Department. 

REFERENCES 

Reinsch, Paul S., American Legislatures and Legislative Methods. 

Roosevelt, Theodore, “Phases of State Legislation,” in American Ideals. 

Note. — The student should compare the details of the legislative department of 
his own state with the corresponding details given in the outline below, 
and note divergences. He should also compare, both in its larger features 
and in detail, his state legislative department with the city legislative 
department previously studied (pp. 46-52). 

1. Name. 

Called by various names in the several states: The Legisla¬ 
ture, The General Assembly, The Legislative Assembly, 
The General Court. What is the legal name in your State ? 

2. Consists of two bodies of legislators (see p. 46) : 

a. The Upper House, called the Senate. 

b. The Lower House, variously named in the different states 

House of Representatives, Assembly, General Assembly, 
House of Delegates. 

How named in your state ? 

3. Facts about both houses. 

a. Qualifications of membership. Reinsch, American Legis¬ 
latures and Legislative Methods , 213, 214. 

(1) In all states. 

(a) The possession of the right of suffrage. 

(b) By law or custom a resident of district. Give 

arguments for and against requiring candi¬ 
date to be resident of the district for which 
he stands. Is this custom followed in other 
countries ? 

(2) In many states. 

(a) Immediately previous residence in state. 

Maximum, for senator, 7 years ; for representa¬ 
tive 5 years. 























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American Civil Government 


(b) Immediately previous residence in district. 
Maximum, for both senator and representative, 

2 years. 

(c) Age qualification: 

Minimum, for senator, 30 years; for representa¬ 
tive, 25 years. 

b. Disqualifications. 

Many state constitutions declare certain men ineligible to 
the office of senator or representative; e.g., officers of 
the federal, state, county, or city government; salaried 
railway officials, etc. 

What qualifications and disqualifications are there in 
your state ? 

c. Districts. (See Nominations and Elections, III.) Reinsch, 

American Legislatures and Legislative Methods , Chap. 
VII. 

(1) Where the local civil units are used as districts, i.e. } 

in several of the older states, extreme inequalities 
of representation occur. 

(2) In most states legislative apportionments are based 

upon approximately equal “representative popu¬ 
lation.” But even here the basis of representation 
may be — 

(a) Equality in number of inhabitants. 

(b) Equality in number of voters. 

(c) Equality in number of inhabitants, excluding 

aliens. 

What is the basis of representation in your 
state ? 

(3) Reapportionment. 

(a) Frequency: ten years usual period. 

(b) Made by state legislature. 

(c) Limitations as to dividing existing civil divisions. 









































































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82 


American Civil Government 


(d) Factors in making an apportionment: popula¬ 
tion, or voters or taxable property or civil 
divisions, number of members, and fractions 
of representative ratio. 

(i e ) The gerrymander (see Nominations and Elec¬ 
tions, III) (2) exists in nearly every state. 

Is your state equitably divided into senatorial 
and representative districts ? If not, how 
is the division unfair ? 

d. Rotation in office the general practice. (See Nominations 

and Elections, VI 6.) 

e. Salaries: usually small; in states paying per diem from 

$1 to $8 ; in states paying per annum from $150 in Maine 
to $1500 in New York. 

Mileage is allowed in most states. 

/. Vacancies, how filled ? 

g. Quorum: usually a majority of the members; but a less 

number may adjourn, and may compel the attendance 
of absent members. 

h. Sessions. 

(1) Frequency: 

Six states have annual session. 

Two states have quadrennial session. 

The remaining have biennial. 

What is the rule in your state ? 

Discover reasons for and against the most frequent 
sessions. 

(2) Length: 

Limited by constitution in most states. 

What is the purpose of this ? 

(3) Extra Sessions: reasons for; limitations upon. 

Called by Governor. 

Importance of this power. 



























































































































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8 4 


American Civil Government 


i. Privileges common to both houses: 

(1) Freedom of members from arrest except for felony, 

breach of peace, etc. 

(2) Each house judge of the election and qualifications 

of its members. 

(3) Each house chooses its own officers, but the Lieu¬ 

tenant-Governor is ex officio president of the senate 
in most states. 

(4) Each house adopts its own rules of procedure. 

(5) Each house may discipline its own members. 

(6) Each house may, in most states, adjourn for a limited 

number of days. 

4. The Upper House. 

a. Name: the Senate. 

b. Differs from low T er house in — 

(1) Having fewer members — from 15 in Nevada to 63 

in Minnesota — each representing a larger district. 

(2) Demanding, in many states, somewhat higher quali¬ 

fications for membership. (See 3, a, above.) 

(3) Longer terms of office in majority of states. The 

term of office varies from one to four years in the 
different states. 

c. Presiding officer: generally the Lieutenant-Governor, but 

in some states a president is chosen by and from the 
members. 

What other officers, and how chosen in your Senate? 

d. Commonly a continuous body, a portion of its members 

being elected yearly. 

e. Special powers (in most states): 

(1) The trial of impeachments. 

(2) The confirmation of the Governor’s appointments. 

In states having a Governor’s Council, this power is 
generally given to the Council. 





































































































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86 


American Civil Government 


5. The Lower House. 

a. Name: 

Variously called, in the different states, House of Repre¬ 
sentatives, Assembly, General Assembly, and House of 
Delegates. 

b. Differs from upper house in: 

(1) Having larger number of members — varying from 

30 in Nevada to 398 in New Hampshire — each 
member representing a smaller district. 

(2) Qualifications for membership lower, generally speaking. 

(See 3, a, above.) 

(3) Shorter term for members in most states. 

c. Presiding Officer: Speaker chosen by and from the 

members. 

What other officers are there in your House of Represent¬ 
atives, and how chosen ? 

Are there any officers chosen by the two houses to¬ 
gether ? 

d. Districts. 

In New England the town originally was the unit of rep¬ 
resentation, and this is still true in some states, espe¬ 
cially with regard to the lower house. But throughout 
the country representative districts are now generally 
formed by taking parts (wards), or wholes, or combina¬ 
tions of local units, and assigning to them one or more 
members according to the number of their inhabitants 
(or voters). Sometimes, however, each senatorial dis¬ 
trict elects several members to the lower house. 

How are districts for members of lower house made in your 
state ? 

e. Special powers: 

(1) In most states to initiate financial legislation. 

(2) To impeach. 

























































































































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American Civil Government 


6. Method of procedure in state legislature. 

a. Committees: Reinsch, American Legislatures and Legis¬ 
lative Methods, Chap. V. 

(1) Appointment and composition. 

(2) Standing committees of each house. 

(3) Joint standing committees. 

(4) Conference committees. 

(5) Committee hearings. 

Power to compel attendance of witnesses. 

Is the standing committee or the joint standing com¬ 
mittee the more generally used in your state legis¬ 
lature ? 

Which is the better ? Why ? 

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the com¬ 
mittee system. 

h. Ways in which legislation may come before the legislature. 
There are three ways in Massachusetts legislature: 

(1) Legislation recommended in the Governor’s message 

may be presented in the form of bills by a committee 
on the Governor’s message. 

(2) A member of either house may “on leave ” present a 

bill of his own. 

(3) A petition signed by citizens and accompanied by a 

bill embodying the legislation prayed for may be 
presented through a member of either house. 

How may desired legislation be brought before your 
state legislature ? 
c. Steps in the passage of a bill. 

“Legislative procedure among our many commonwealths, 
while subject to infinite modification and diversity of 
detail, most generally follows along the line of a certain 
recognized practice common in substance to almost all 
our state legislatures.” — Reinsch. 



























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go 


American Civil Government 


The following are the steps in the passage of a bill by 
the Massachusetts General Court. 

The student should compare step by step the lawmaking 
procedure in his own state legislature. 

(1) Presentation of bill by member. 

(2) Referred by presiding officer to proper committee. 

(If this is a joint committee, concurrence of the 
presiding officer of the other chamber must be 
had.) 

(3) Public hearing — announced upon the Bulletin and 

in the public press — of those interested for or 
against the bill. 

(4) Reported (to the chamber in which it was presented), 

if favorably, “ ought to pass,” if unfavorably, 
“ought not to pass” or “leave to withdraw.” 

(5) If favorably reported, read, by title only, and as¬ 

signed by the presiding officer — if there is no 
objection — to a place in the Calendar. This is 
the first reading. 

(6) Bill is printed, so that at 

(7) Second reading, which occurs on a subsequent day, 

copies are placed in the hands of each member. 

At this time the merits of the bill are discussed and 
amendments may be offered on the spot, or the 
bill may be recommitted to the committee. 

A vote is taken finally upon the question, “ Shall the 
bill have a third reading ? ” 

If the vote is in the affirmative, the bill is committed 
to 

(8) The “Committee on Bills in Third Reading,” who 

scan the wording and phrasing of the bill, and, hav¬ 
ing made any corrections necessary, return it to 
the chamber for 



























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92 


American Civil Government 


(9) The third reading. 

The bill may at this point be again discussed and 
defeated. The question now is, “Shall the bill 
be engrossed?” 

(10) If the vote is favorable, the bill is sent to the other 

chamber, where it goes through the same routine, 
(n) If amended by the second chamber, the amended bill 
is sent back to the chamber in which it was first 
presented for concurrence in the amendment. 

(12) If the first chamber will not concur, a committee of 

conference is selected from both chambers, which 
tries to effect an agreement. 

(13) If the bill is passed to be engrossed by the second 

chamber, it is placed in the hands of an engrossing 
clerk, who copies it upon parchment in “fair round 
hand.” 

(14) A “Committee on Engrossed Bills” compares the 

new copy with the old and pronounces it ready 
to be enacted. 

(15) The bill is now formally enacted by the lower house 

and signed by its president. 

(16) Then it is formally enacted by the upper house and 

signed by its president. 

(17) It is next sent to the Governor for his signature. 

(18) The Governor may sign the bill, in which case it 

becomes a law at once, or he 

(19) May veto it and return it with his objections to the 

house in which it originated. 

(20) If, however, each house passes the bill again by a 

two-thirds vote, it becomes a law without the 
Governor’s signature. 

(21) Again, if the Governor keeps the bill five legislative 

days, it becomes a law without his signature, 




























































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94 


American Civil Government 


provided the legislature does not adjourn mean¬ 
while. 

Under the rules no two readings of a bill may be 
had on the same day; but by a suspension of the 
rules (upon a two-thirds vote) all three readings 
may be had on the same day. 

Get your local representative to assist you in drawing 
up a petition and accompanying bill, and organize 
the class into a house and pass the bill in due form. 
d. Promulgation of the laws. 

(1) The publication by the Secretary of State of the laws 

made at a single session. 

(2) The revision and codification of the laws at some¬ 

what long intervals. 

7. Powers of the State Legislature. Cf. powers of local legisla¬ 

tive bodies (pp. 18-34, 46). 

a. Make laws. 

The sphere of state legislation is very extensive, covering 
almost the whole field of civil and criminal law under 
which we five. The pupil, under the guidance of his 
teacher, should make a list of subjects with which a 
state legislature may deal and see how much more ex¬ 
tensive it is than the list of subjects with which the 
legislative department of local government may deal. 

b. To levy taxes. 

c. Make appropriations of money. 

d. Institute courts of justice. 

e. Provide for the choice of state officers not otherwise pro¬ 

vided for in the constitution, and prescribe their duties. 
/. To reapportion electoral districts. 
g. To elect United States senators. 

8. Limitations and prohibitions upon legislatures. 

a. Limitations and prohibitions imposed by the United States 
























































































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9 6 


American Civil Government 


Constitution — to be studied in connection with Na¬ 
tional government. (See pp. 112-150.) 
b. Limitations and prohibitions by state constitutions. 

(1) Powers taken away by legislation embodied in the 

constitution. 

(2) Powers prohibited to the legislature: e.g., the power 

to appropriate money to aid religious bodies and 
schools, and prohibitions which aim to protect 
personal liberty. 

(3) Limitations upon local and special legislation. 

(4) Regulations of procedure ; e.g. : 

(a) No bill may be introduced within a certain time 
before adjournment. 

(1 b ) Contents of bill must be expressed in title. . 

(c) Bill must be “ read ” three times on different days. 
(1 d ) Bill must have majority vote (of total member¬ 
ship in many states) of each house. 

(e) Bills subject to veto of Governor in all but two 
states, but may be passed over the veto by a 
vote varying from a simple majority to a 
two-thirds vote of each house. 

(/) Regulations regarding financial legislation ; e.g. : 
Revenue bills to originate in lower house. 
Appropriation bills limited to a single purpose. 
Items in appropriation bills subject to veto, etc. 
9. Defects — generally admitted in most states — in state legis¬ 
latures and legislation. 

Are any of the following defects alleged in your state ? If so, 
discuss remedies for each. 

a. Membership not of high order as to efficiency and incor¬ 

ruptibility. 

b. Members chosen as mere counters for the election of United 

States senators. 






















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g8 


American Civil Government 


c. Changes of laws too frequent. 

d. Excess of special legislation. 

io. Direct legislation by the voters of a State. 

a. The Initiative ; the process by which a certain percentage 

of the legal voters may propose a law to be submitted to 
popular vote. In use in South Dakota, Utah, and Oregon. 

b. The Referendum; the process by which upon petition 

of a certain percentage of voters legislative enactments 
are submitted to the voters for approval. 

Discuss reasons for the growing popularity of these mea¬ 
sures. What are the objections to them ? Oberholtzer, 
The Referendum in America. 

IV. The State Executive Department. 

REFERENCES 

Finley and Sanderson, American Executive and Executive Methods. 

Goodnow, F. J., Comparative Administrative Law. « 

Note. — Compare with the city executive department previously studied (p. 52). 

1. General statement. 

The executive authority in the states is never vested in a 
single official, but always in a group of officers, among whom 
are always found a governor, secretary, treasurer, auditor, 
and attorney-general, together with a system of boards or 
commissions. (See p. 102.) 

2. The Governor. 

a. Official title. 

b. Term of office. 

Ranges in the several states from one to four years. What 
is it in your state? Has it always been the same as it 
is now ? 

c. Eligibility to reelection. 

If not controlled by the constitution of your state, is it 
regulated by custom ? 















































































































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American Civil Government 


d. Qualifications. 

Birth, age, residence, property, education. 

e. Nomination (see Chap. IX). 

By primary or convention ? 

/. Election. 

Are there any circumstances under which the legislature 
in your state may elect the governor? 
g. Salary. 

3. Powers and duties of the Governor. 

a. To supervise the execution of laws. 

b. To make appointments. 

What officers may your governor appoint? Cf. your 
mayor’s power. (See diagram, p. 64.) 

c. To grant pardons and reprieves. 

Frequently the consent of a governor’s council or of a 
board of pardons is required. 

d. To make recommendations to the legislature. 

e. To veto acts of the legislature. 

(In all the states except North Carolina and Rhode Island. 
In the latter an amendment conferring this power on the 
governor is pending.) 

(1) May your governor veto items in appropriation bills? 
See Reinsch, American Legislatures and Legislative 

Methods , 188. 

(2) How may the governor’s veto be overcome in your 

state ? 

/. To convene the legislature in extra session. To adjourn it 
under certain conditions. 

g. To command the state militia, except when it is in the 

service of the United States. 

h. To represent the state in all communications between his 

state and other states, or the federal government. 

4. The Lieutenant-Governor. 




























































































































































































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102 


American Civil Government 


a. Term of office. 

b. Powers and duties. 

c. If your state has no lieutenant-governor, who would suc¬ 

ceed the governor ? 

5. The secretary of state. 

a. How chosen ? 

b. Qualifications. 

c. Duties and powers. 

d. Relation to the governor. 

e. Term of office. 

If not the same as the governor’s, what may be the effect 
of the difference? 

/. Vacancy, how filled? 
g. How removed? 

Note. — Treat the four following topics in the same 
manner. 

6. The treasurer. 

7. The auditor or comptroller. 

8. The attorney-general. 

9. Other state officials. 

10. State boards and commissions. 

11. Militia and state police. 

a. What are the most important boards and commissions 

in your state ? 

b. How chosen ? 

c. Functions. 

12. The work of the state. Most state laws are administered 

by local officials over whom the state executive has no 
control; but in the fields of education, charities and cor¬ 
rection, public health, and local finance, some of the states 
have begun to exercise supervision of local officials, and 
many states have gradually developed direct state admin¬ 
istration through the establishment of state institutions. 
















































































104 


American Civil Government 


The study of this administrative work of the state is both 
interesting and important, but the field is so broad that the 
teacher must guard against spending too much time upon 
it. Teachers have found it feasible to assign the work of 
the different state boards and commissions to different 
members of the class to study and to report upon in the 
classroom. The following brief outlines are offered as 
samples: 

a. In education. 

Your state board. 

(1) How composed and how chosen. 

(2) Duties and powers in. 

(a) Handling state school funds. 

(b) Managing state normal schools. 

(c) Examining and certifying teachers. 

(d) Control of teachers’ institutes. 

(1 e ) Collection and publication of statistics. 

(/) Making courses of study and adopting textbooks. 
( g ) Compelling attendance of pupils. 

(i h ) Enforcing proper school sanitation in commu¬ 
nities that are negligent in the matter. 

b. In charities and corrections (outline in a similar way). 

c. In caring for the public health, state boards of health 

have been established in all the states and territories 
except Idaho. 

(1) How is your state board of health composed? How 

chosen ? 

(2) From the reports of your state board of health learn: 

(a) What it has done in research work. 

(b) What powers it has over local sanitary organiza¬ 

tion. 

(c) What control of communicable disease it has 

effected. 






io6 


American CM Government 


■ (d ) What food control it has attempted. 

(e) To what extent it has protected the purity of 

public waters. 

(f) How far it has tried to control the licensing of 

those engaged in certain professions and trades. 

(g) What it has done in collecting vital statistics. 

V. The State Judiciary. 

REFERENCES 

Baldwin, Simeon E., (i) The American Judiciary. 

(2) Modern Political Institutions. 

1. State judicial organization. 

a. The lower state courts. 

Organization and jurisdiction. 

b. The higher state courts. 

(1) Municipal, county, or district courts. 

Organization and jurisdiction of each. 

(2) The superior court or court of appeals. 

Organization and functions. 

c. The state supreme court. 

(1) Organization. 

(2) Powers. 

d. Special state courts. 

Probate courts. 

Courts of claims. 

Land courts, etc. 

2. Machinery of judicial administration. 

a. Justices. 

(1) Method of selection, and length of terms. 

(2) Appointment and election : relative merits. 

(3) Removal of justices. 

b. Court officials. 

(1) Prosecuting officials; method of selection, etc. 










108 American Civil Government 

(2) Other officials. 
c. Juries. 

Classification and function. 

(1) Qualifications of jurymen. 

(2) Method of selection. 

3. State judicial procedure. 

a. Parties to legal actions. 

(1) Plaintiff. 

(2) Defendant. 

b. Classification of actions. 

(1) Criminal actions. 

(2) Civil actions. 

c. Criminal procedure. 

(1) In the lower courts. 

(a) If the court is found ( b ) If the court is found not 
to have jurisdiction. to have jurisdiction. 

Trial Preliminary Hearing 

Complaint 
Warrant 
Subpoena 
Bail (possible) 

Arraignment 

Plea 

Evidence 

Argument of counsel 

Sentence If court finds case beyond 

Appeal (possible) its jurisdiction 

Commitment or 
Release on bail 

to await trial in higher court. 

(2) In the higher courts. 

Trial before petit jury on 

(a) Original complaint, (b) Indictment by grand jury. 












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American Civil Government 


Arraignment 

Plea 

Evidence 

Argument of counsel 
Justice’s charge to jury 
Verdict 

Sentence (or appeal to supreme 
court on writ of error). 

(3) In highest (supreme) court. 

Usually simply a decision upon the writ of error, 
sustaining or reversing some ruling of lower court, 
and remanding case for sentence or for retrial. 
d. Civil procedure. 

(1) Writ of attachment. 

(2) Summons. 

(3) Pleading. 

(a) Declaration of plaintiff. 

( b ) Answer of defendant. 

(4) Trial. 

(a) At law. 

(1 b ) In equity. 

(5) Judgment. 

(6) Enforcement of judgment by writ of execution. 

(7) Appeal. 

4. Scope of state judiciary power. 

a. State jurisdiction residual in nature. 

b. Relation of state to federal courts. 

(1) The bases of appeal. 

(2) The methods of appeal. 

(To be taken up in connection with the federal courts, 
(p. 146.) 

Do state governments exemplify centralized or 
decentralized government ? 





































































































CHAPTER V 


FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 
REFERENCES 

Bryce, James, American Commonwealth. 

Hamilton, Madison, and Jay, The Federalist. 

Wilson, Woodrow, The State. 

Harrison, Benjamin, This Country of Ours. 

Story, Joseph, Commentaries on the Constitution. 

Cooley, T. M., (i) Principles of Constitutional Law. 

(2) Constitutional Limitations. 

Willoughby, W. W., American Constitutional System. 

Woodburn, Jas. A., The American Republic and its Government. 

Hart, A. B., Actual Government. 

Ashley, R. L., American Federal State. 

Reinsch, P. S., Readings on American Federal Government. 

OTHER DOCUMENTS AND MATERIAL NEEDED 
A good physiographical map of the United States. 

A good political map of the United States showing railroads and other means 
of intercommunication. 

Reports of departments and bureaus. 

United States Revised Laws. 

Copies of the House Manual and the Senate Manual. 

Copies of a bill in various stages, with the amendments, various committee 
reports, etc., upon it. 

All the copies of various executive documents, such as appointments, com¬ 
missions, etc., that can be collected. 

The Congressional Record. 

A. INTRODUCTORY STUDY OF THE CONSTITUTION 

I. Growth of Union before the Constitution. 

Reference : Fiske, John, Civil Government , Chap. VIII. 

1. Early colonial conferences. 

2. The Albany Convention, 1754. 


112 





American Civil Government 


114 


a. Twofold aim. 

b. Franklin’s plan of confederation. 

3. First Colonial Congress, 1765. 

a. Constitution and work. 

b. Committees of correspondence. 

4. The Continental Congress, 1774. 

a. Strong feeling of union shown by: 

(1) Enactments of nonintercourse. 

(2) The attitude of the separate colonies toward the 

British plan of conciliation. 

5. The Confederation, 1781. 

Reference : Evans, L. B., Writings of Washington. 

a. Nature and powers of the Union. 

(1) Legislative and executive powers only. 

(2) Financial support by individual states. 

b. Defects of the Confederation. 

(1) Simply a league. 

(2) No coercive power. 

(3) No power to tax. 

(4) No power to regulate commerce. 

II. Origin of the Constitution. 

References : Evans, Writings of Washington. 

Fiske, John, Critical Period of American History. 

Hamilton, Madison, and Jay, The Federalist. 

1. The commission appointed by legislatures of Maryland and 

Virginia, 1785. 

2. The Annapolis Convention, 1786. 

3. The Convention of 1787. 

a. Its membership. 

b. Its purpose and change of purpose. 

c. Its actual accomplishment. 

d. The Constitution based upon experience of: 

































































































































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American Civil Government 


(1) Government in England. 

(2) Government in the colonies, and in the then new 

states. 

(3) Government under the Articles of Confederation. 

e. Ratification of the Constitution and beginning of govern¬ 
ment under it. 

III. Preliminary study of the form and text of the Constitution. 

1. Object as set forth in the preamble. 

2. The content, in the large, of each article. 

3. Amendments. 

a. The two groups the result of two periods of controversy. 

b. Comparison of the first eight with the “bill of rights ” in 

your state constitution. 

c. Method of making comprises two steps: 

(1) The proposal. 

(2) The ratification. 

Note. — The Constitution should be the text of reference. 
B. FEDERAL LEGISLATURE 

REFERENCES 

Wilson, Woodrow, Congressional Government. 

Woodburn, Jas. A., The American Republic and its Government. 

Follett, Mary P., The Speaker. 

McConachie, L. G., Congressional Committees. 

(Compare constantly and in detail with your state legislature and 
note parallelisms and divergences.) 

I. General Statement: 

1. Name, Congress. 

2. Bicameral; Senate and House of Representatives. 

3. Review advantages and disadvantages of the bicameral 

system. (See p. 46.) 

4. Brief comparison of Congress with legislative departments 

of cities, of states of the Union, and of other nations. 













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n8 American Civil Government 

II. The Senate. 

1. Membership. 

a. Equality of states ; two senators from each. 

(1) Historical reasons for this arrangement. The federal 

idea vs. the national idea — the “Connecticut 
Compromise.” 

(2) Is there any theoretical justification for the arrange¬ 

ment? 

b. Constitutional qualifications of members. Compare with 

qualifications of your state senators. 

c. Term of office. 

d. A continuous body, one-third of the members going out 

every two years. 

2. Method of election. 

a. Advantages and disadvantages. 

(1) Failure of legislatures to elect. 

(2) Interference with business of legislatures. 

b. The law of 1866. Forman, Advanced Civics , p. 120. 

c. Proposed changes of method and actual variations from 

intention of the framers of the Constitution. 

(1) Popular election (proposed). 

(2) Dictation by political machines. 

(3) Nominations by party conventions or primaries. 

(4) The Oregon method. 

d. Filling of vacancies which occur when the legislature is 

not in session. 

3. Organization and procedure. (Compare with same in state 

senate.) 

a. Officers. 

(1) Vice-president, extent of power and right to vote. 

(2) President pro tern. 

(3) Minor officers. 

b. Committees. (Compare with house committees below, 

and with committees of state senate.) 
















































120 


American Civil Government 


(1) Made up by party caucuses of majority and minority 

parties. 

(2) Influence of seniority. 

(3) Most important committees. 

(4) Positions held by senators from your state. 

c. Peculiarities of procedure. 

(1) Senatorial courtesy. (See 4, a , below.) 

(2) Unlimited debate. 

4. Special • powers of senate. (Compare with special powers 
of state senate, p. 84.) 

a. Confirmation of appointments. The abuse of this power. 

(See c, 1, above.) 

b. Approval of treaties. 

c. Judgment in impeachment trials. 

d. Election of vice-president. When and how ? 

III. The House of Representatives. 

1. Membership. (Compare in its chief features with lower 

chamber in city and state legislative bodies previously 
studied, p. 86.) 

a. Apportioned to the states according to population; in¬ 

crease after each new census. (Representative ratio.) 

b. Term of office. 

c. Qualifications for membership. (Compare with qualifi¬ 

cations of state representatives, p. 86.) 

2. Election. 

a. By what voters. 

b. Districts; how made; gerrymandering. (Seep. 176.) 

c. Congressmen-at-large. 

d. Contested elections. 

e. Proposal of proportional representation. 

3. Organization and procedure. 

a. Not a continuous body. Each new house organizes and 
adopts rules. 































































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122 


American Civil Government 


b. The speaker and his power. Follett, The Speaker; Hannis 

Taylor, The Speaker and his Powers, N. American 
Review, Vol. 188, No. 4. But note recent changes. 

(1) Appointment of Committees. (Compare B, II, 3, b 

above and appointment of committees in state 
house of representatives.) 

(2) Power of recognition. 

(3) Chairman of Committee on Rules. 

(4) Refers bills and communications to committees. 

c. Committee on Rules. 

d. Committee of the Whole. 

e. Important committees. 

/. Positions of your representative. 
g. Allotment of time and closure. 

4. Special powers of the house. (Compare with special power 

of state house of representatives.) 

a. To originate bills for raising revenue. Power of senate to 

nullify by amendment. 

b. To elect the president; when and how. Does the house 

here illustrate the “federal idea ” or “national ” ? 

c. To order impeachment. 

5. The subordination of the house to the senate as a power in 

the government. 

IV. Principles and facts applicable to both houses of Congress. Dis¬ 
tinguish clearly between “a Congress ” and a session of Con¬ 
gress. When did the present “ Congress ” begin ? When will 
it end ? 

1. Sessions. 

a. Regular — relation to time of election, long and short 

sessions and the character of the work done in each. 

b. Special — how called, purposes, and historical examples. 

c. Special — of senate alone ; reasons for such sessions. 

2. Constitutional provisions. 





124 


American Civil Government 


a. Quorum. Follett, The Speaker, 196-206. 

b. Each house judges of election and qualification of members. 

c. Keeping a journal. 

d. Convention and adjournment. Power of self-convening 

and self-adjourning a valuable asset of civil liberty. 
Historical reasons for this. 

e. Exemption of members from arrest. 

/. Punishment of members. 

3. Compensation. Fuller, H. B., Congressional Salary. Legis¬ 

lation, N. American Review, Vol. 188, No. 4. 

4. Method of legislation. 

a. Course of a bill or proposed law. (Compare each step with 

method followed in your state legislature, pp. 90-94.) 

(1) Introduction. How? 

(2) Reference to committee. (Review advantages and 

disadvantages of the committee system. See 
P- 88.) 

(3) Report of committee. 

(4) The calendar. 

(5) Vote required and method of voting. 

(6) Passage by both houses. 

(7) Amendments. 

(8) Disagreements and conference committees. 

(9) Approval or veto by President. 

(10) Passage over veto. 

(n) Promulgation. 

b. Features of actual legislation: 

(1) Filibustering. 

(2) Log-rolling. 

(3) Party caucuses. 

(4) Influence of political machines and bosses. 

(5) Lobbying. 

(6) Presidential influence. 


































































126 


American Civil Government 


(7) Bribery and corrupt influences. 

(8) Strikes. 

V. General statement of the sphere of the federal government. 

Sovereignty in the United States is divided between the federal 
government and the state governments. All powers possessed 
by the federal government are enumerated in the Constitution. 
The states possess all powers not taken away from them by 
the Federal Constitution. There are some powers denied by 
the Constitution both to the federal government and to the 
states. The sphere of the federal government is chiefly to be 
found in the enumeration of the powers of Congress, as, for the 
most part, the executive and judicial departments simply carry 
out and interpret the laws passed by Congress; but there are 
certain parts of the national activity which come from the 
powers granted to the President and Judiciary. The sphere 
of federal activity may be altered by an amendment to the 
United States Constitution duly adopted. 

1. Exclusive powers of federal government. Illustrations. 

2. Powers exercised concurrently with the states. Illustrations. 

3. Powers denied the federal government. Illustrations. 

4. Powers denied the states. Illustrations. 

5. The doctrine of implied powers. 

This relation of the federal government to that of the states is 
illustrated by Tiedeman’s diagram on the following page. 

The whole circle represents the sum total of governmental powers; 
circle A, powers delegated to the United States; circle B, powers 
reserved to the states; segment C, concurrent powers; segment D, 
powers prohibited to both governments ; segment E, powers prohibited 
to the states, but neither prohibited nor delegated to the United States. 
Cf. Stimson, F. J., The Law of the Federal and State Constitutions of 
the United States, for a more comprehensive diagram. 

If students will number the clauses of each section of the Constitu- 






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128 


American Civil Government 



tion, then draw an enlarged diagram, and place the number of sections 
and clauses in the proper segments, it will help to make the relation of 
the dual governments clear. 


VI. Sphere of congressional legislation. Cf. powers of state legis¬ 
lation, p. 94. 

1. Financial powers. 

a. Taxation. Cf. p. 58, and tabulate the various forms of 
direct and indirect taxes. 

(1) Limitations on taxing power. Is an income tax con¬ 

stitutional? Cf. conflicting decisions of Supreme 
Court on this question. 

(2) The existing national system. 

(a) Custom taxes. 

(b) Internal revenue taxes. 
























































































































































































































































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130 


American Civil Government 


(c) Other taxes. 

(i d ) Administration of tax system. 

b. Borrowing power. 

(1) United States bonds. 

(2) National bank law; authority found under this 

power. How ? 

(3) United States notes; power to issue and make legal 

tender. Justified if at all under this power. 

c. Expenditure. 

Appropriations must be passed like other laws. 

2. Military Power. 

a. Declaration of War. 

b. Army. 

c. Navy. 

d. General Rules for Militia. 

e. Fortifications and Defense. 

3. Territorial Power. 

a. To acquire territory. What is the source of this power? 

Territory which has been acquired. 

b. To provide for government of territory. (See Chap. VI.) 

c. Power over internal affairs of states ; e.g., guarantee of 

republican form of government. Was the action in the 
matter of the Pullman strike an example of the exercise 
of this power ? 

4. Power over Commerce. 

a. Foreign commerce. 

b. Interstate commerce; wide reach of this power; meaning 

of regulation of commerce. Is prohibition regulation? 
Machinery for carrying out this power. Present con¬ 
ditions demanding its vigorous exercise. 

5. Power to make uniform bankruptcy laws. 

6. Monetary power. 

7. Power to make naturalization laws. 






132 


American Civil Government 


8. Power over post office; extent of power; telegraph and tele¬ 

phone as possible parts of postal system. 

9. Power over patents and copyrights. 

10. Power to regulate elections of presidential electors, senators, 

and representatives. 

11. Power to punish and define piracies and felonies on high seas. 

12. Powers over weights and measures. 

13. Power to make internal improvements. The River and 

Harbor Bill. Is the exercise of this power constitutional ? 
What part of the Constitution authorizes it ? 

14. Power To propose amendments to the Constitution. 

In teaching the powers of Congress, the instructor should invariably 
refer to the words of the Constitution and should illustrate historically, 
as far as time permits, the breadth and depth of meaning (which often 
would not be guessed by even a mature beginner) that are in the words. 

A careful comparison of the sphere of local legislation and the sphere 
of state legislation with that of national legislation will be of especial 
value at this point. See pp. 48 and 94. 

C. THE FEDERAL EXECUTIVE 

REFERENCES 

Stan wood, E., History of the Presidency. 

Rhodes, J. F., The Presidential Office, Scribner’s, February, 1903. 

Mason, E. C., The Veto Power. 

Cleveland, Grover, Presidential Problems. 

West, H. L., in The Forum, March, 1901. 

Harrison, Benjamin, This Country of Ours. 

(Make constant comparison with your state executive.) 

I. General statement: 

1. Composition : president, vice-president, and cabinet. 

2. General relative importance of each. 

3. Comparison of president’s executive power with that of the 
















































































































































































134 


A merican Civil Government 


governor of your state, and with that of the mayor of a 
city. • (See pp. 52 and 100.) 

II. The President and the Vice-president. 

1. Official titles. 

2. Terms of office. 

a. Advantages of long and short terms. 

b. The views of Hamilton and of Madison in the constitu¬ 

tional convention. 

c. Provisions regarding terms of office in the earlier and later 

drafts of the Constitution. 

3. Eligibility to reelection. 

a. Absence of constitutional restrictions. 

b. Presidential “thirdterms.” 

c. The examples of Washington and Grant. 

4. Qualifications. 

a. “Natural-born ” citizens. 

b. Reasons for the exception made in the Constitution. 

c. Age. 

d. Residence. 

5. Method of nomination. 

a. National party conventions; their organization. 

b. Selection of candidates. 

c. Nomination of presidential electors. 

d. Distribution of electors by states. 

6. Method of election. 

a. Discussions in the constitutional convention as to the best 

method of election. 

b. The advantages of direct and indirect election. 

c. Election by Congress, by the states, and by the people. 

d. The system of indirect election a compromise. 

e. The original plan, its working in the first three elections. 
/. Defects of the plan. 

g The election of 1800. 



























































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136 


American Civil Government 


h. The XII amendment. 

i. The present system of choosing electors. 

(1) Qualifications for voting. 

(2) The machinery of polling. 

j. The meetings of electors. 

k. Transmission of the votes. 

l . Verification of the votes. 

m. Disputed electoral returns. 

(1) The Hayes-Tilden election. 

(2) The law of 1887. 

(3) Present procedure in disputed elections. 

n. Procedure when no candidate receives a clear majority. 

(1) In electing president. 

(2) In electing vice-president. 

(3) The election of 1825. 

0. Differences between the theory and practice of presidential 
elections. 

7. The inauguration. 

8. The presidential oath of office. 

9. Salary of the president. 

a. Fixed by Congress. 

b. Limitations on congressional power to increase or reduce. 

c. Present salary as fixed in 1908. 

10. Salary of the vice-president. 

a. Fixed by Congress without restriction. 

b. Present salary as fixed in 1908. 

11. Removal of the president from office. 

a. Procedure in impeachment. 

b. The case of President Johnson. 

12. Rules of succession to the presidency. 

a. How office may be vacated. 

b. Succession of vice-president. 

c. Succession in absence of vice-president. 





































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138 


American Civil Government 


d. The law of 1886. 

e. Present rules of succession. 

(1) Secretary of State. 

(2) Secretary of the Treasury. 

(3) Secretary of War, etc., etc. 

/. Temporary disability. 

13. The powers of the president. 

a. General. 

(1) To enforce the laws of the United States. 

(2) To supervise federal officers. 

b. Military powers. 

(1) Over regular forces. 

(2) Over state forces. 

(a) In time of peace. 

( b ) In time of war. 

c. The appointing power. 

(1) Scope and importance of this power. 

(2) Nature of offices included. 

(3) Confirmation by the senate. 

(4) Procedure in confirmations. 

(5) “Senatorial courtesy.” 

(6) Filling of vacancies when senate is not in session. 

(7) The limits of tenure without confirmation. 

(8) Appointments to lower offices. 

(9) “Rotation in office,” the Act of 1820. 

(10) The spoils system. 

(n) Civil service reform. 

(a) The law of 1871. 

(b) The-Pendleton Act, 1883. 

( c ) Present scope of the civil service regulations. 

The president’s power of appointment is clearly set forth by the 

following diagram from Lansing and Jones’s Government in the 
United States. 





































































































































































SOURCE OF AUTHORITY IN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

The People 


American Civil Government 


140 































































































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142 


American Civil Government 


Compare with a mayor’s power of appointment and with your 
governor’s as shown in diagram, p. 64. 

d. The power of removal. 

(1) Assent of senate not required. 

(2) Restrictions on the power to remove. 

e. Powers connected with diplomacy. 

(1) The making of treaties. 

Review the tabulated classification of the forms of 
law (p. 6), and place the treaties ih their proper 
relation to other forms. 

(2) Confirmation of treaties. 

(a) Procedure in confirmations. 

(b) Foreign relations committee. 

( c ) Relation of the house of representatives to 

treaties. Has it power ? What ? 

/. Powers in relation to Congress. 

(1) The veto power, its importance. 

(2) Procedure in vetoes. 

(3) Laws without presidential assent. 

(4) The “pocket veto.” 

(5) Repassing over the veto. 

(6) Presidential messages. 

(a) Inaugural. 

(b) Annual. 

(c) Special. 

(7) Convocation of special sessions. 

(a) Of both houses. 

(b) Of the senate alone. 

(c) Of the house alone. 

(8) Adjournment of Congress when senate and house 

disagree. 

g. The power of pardon and reprieve. 

(1) Scope of this power. 

(2) Limitations. (Impeachments.) 






































































































. 

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144 


American Civil Government 


14. The powers of the vice-president. 

a. The presidency of the senate. 

b. Voting rights in the senate. 

c. The right of succession to presidency. 

III. The Cabinet. 

1. The legal position of the cabinet. (Extraconstitutional.) 

2. Comparison with the English cabinet. 

3. Appointment and confirmation of members. 

4. Removal of members from cabinet. 

5. Composition of cabinet. 

a. The department of state. 

(1) Its organization. 

(a) The assistant secretaries. 

( b ) The six bureaus. 

(2) Its functions. 

(a) Publication of laws and proclamations. 

. ( b ) Negotiation of treaties. 

(c) Conduct of diplomatic relations. 

b. The treasury. 

(1) Organization and officials. 

(2) The subtreasuries. 

(3) Its functions. 

(a) Concerning revenues. 

(b) Concerning expenditures. 

(c) Concerning the currency. 

( d ) Concerning banking. 

c. The war department. 

d. The navy department. 

e. The department of justice. 

/. The post-office department. 

g. The department of the interior. 

h. The department of agriculture. 

i. The department of commerce and labor. 










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146 


American Civil Government 


6. Relation of the cabinet to the president. 

7. Relation of the cabinet to Congress. 

D. THE FEDERAL JUDICIARY 

REFERENCES 

Baldwin; S. E., American Judiciary. 

Story, J., Commentaries on the Constitution. 

Brewer, United States Supreme Court, Scribner, 1903. 

I. General statement: 

1. The necessity of a judicial system. 

2. The special importance of the judiciary in a federal system of 

government. 

3. The independence of the judiciary. 

4. Dual organization of the American judiciary. 

II. The organization of the federal judiciary. 

1. The district courts. 

a. Number and location of districts. 

b. Composition of district courts. 

c. Method of appointment, tenure, removal, and compen¬ 

sation of justices. 

d. Places and times of sessions. 

e. Officials of the courts. 

2. The circuit courts. 

a. Arrangement of the circuits. 

b. Organization of circuit courts. 

3. The circuit courts of appeals. 

4. The supreme court. 

a. Importance in the general system. 

b. The chief justice. 

c. The associate justices. 

d. Method of appointment and confirmation. 

e. Term of office. 

























































































































American Civil Government 


f. Removals by impeachment. 

g. Remuneration, and securities against its reduction. 

h. Place and times of sessions. 

i. Publication of decisions. 

j. Enforcement of decisions. 

k. Officials of the court. 

5. The court of claims and other special courts. 

Organization and procedure. 

III. Jurisdiction of the federal courts. 

1. Its scope. 

a. “Law and equity.” 

b. Cases arising under the Constitution. 

c. Cases arising under federal laws. 

d. Cases involving treaties. 

e. Cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and 

consuls. 

/. Admiralty and maritime cases. 

g. Controversies between states. 

h . Controversies to which the United States is a party. 

i. Controversies between a state and the citizens of another 

state. 

(1) Chisholm vs. Georgia. 

(2) The XI amendment. 

(3) Suits against state officials. 

j. Cases between citizens of different states. 

(1) The status of corporations. 

(2) Joint suits. 

k. Cases between citizens of the same state claiming lands 

under grants of different states. 

l . Controversies between a' state and foreign states or citizens. 

m. Cases between citizens of the United States and foreign 

citizens. 

2. Its division among the courts. 




















































































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American Civil Government 


15 ° 

a. Original and appellate jurisdictions. 

b. The original jurisdiction of the supreme court. 

(1) In cases affecting ambassadors, etc. 

(2) In cases between states, to which a state is a party. 

c. The appellate jurisdiction of the supreme court. 

(1) Appeals from lower to higher federal courts. 

(2) The division of jurisdiction among federal courts. 

(3) Appeals from state courts to federal courts. 

(4) Procedure in appeals (writs of error, certiorari, etc.). 

(5) Concurrent jurisdiction of state and federal courts. 
IV. The influence of the federal courts. 

1. In protecting the rights of states. 

2. In protecting the rights of the nation. 

3. In protecting the rights of citizens. 

4. In protecting the rights of aliens. 

5. The growth in power of the supreme court. 

V. Judiciary securities for personal rights. 

(The Bill of Rights.) 













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CHAPTER VI 


GOVERNMENT OF TERRITORIES AND DEPENDENCIES 
REFERENCES 

Willoughby, W. F., Territories and Dependencies of the United States. 
Woodburn, J. A., American Republic and its Government, Chap. VIII. 

I. Classification. 

1. Organized, e.g., New Mexico, Arizona, Hawaii. 

2. Unorganized, e.g., Alaska. 

3. Dependencies, e.g., Porto Rico, Philippines, Guam, Samoa, 

Canal Zone. 

4. District of Columbia. 

II. Relation to the federal government. 

III. Government of an organized territory. 

1. Its constitution. 

a. Source. 

b. Content. 

Compare with your state constitution in these two points. 

2. Organs of government. 

a. Governor, Secretary, 1 Appointed for four years by 

Treasurer, Auditor, President, together with 

Supreme Court judges, ] United States Attorney and 

United States Marshal. 

b. Legislature, lower court judges and all local officers elected 

by the people. 

c. Delegate to Congress. 

IV. Government of unorganized territories. Chief officers appointed 

by president; a minimum amount of self-government. 

152 














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i54 


American Civil Government 


V. Government of the District of Columbia. 

1. Legislative department. Congress. 

2. Executive department. Three commissioners appointed by 

President. 

3. Judicial department. Special courts appointed by the Presi¬ 

dent. 

VI. Admission of new states. 

Two general methods. 




















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CHAPTER VII 


CITIZENSHIP 

REFERENCES 

Willoughby, W. W., The American Constitutional System, Chap. XV. 

Hart, A. B., Actual Government , Chap. II. 

Ashley, R. L., American Federal State , 212-218. 

Cooley, T. M., Principles of Constitutional Law, 268-272. 

United States Constitution, XIV Amendment. 

Stimson, F. J., The Law of the Federal and State Constitutions of the United States, 
161, 218-229. 

MATERIAL NEEDED 

A brief compendium of the naturalization laws. 

Copies of naturalization papers. 


I. Definition of citizenship. 

1. Distinction between the civil rights of a native-born citizen 

and those of a naturalized citizen and those of an alien. 

2. Dual character of citizenship. 

II. Acquirement of citizenship. 

1. By birth. 

a. By the jus soli all persons born in our country are citizens, 

no matter what the nationality of the parents may be. 
Exceptions. 

b. By the jus sanguinis the children born abroad of American 

parentage are citizens of the United States. (See natural¬ 
ization acts of 1790 and of 1855.) 

2. By marriage. 

3. By annexation. 

Comparison of the treatment in this respect of the inhabitants 

156 




158 


American Civil Government 


of Florida and Porto Rico. Willoughby, W. F., Territories 
and Dependencies of the United States. 

4. By naturalization. 

The steps in this process : 

a. The formal “declaration of intention.” 

b. The “final application ” and oath of allegiance. 

By whom and under what authority are naturalization 
papers issued ? 

Make a brief study of our naturalization laws and the 
methods of administering them. 

III. Ways in which citizenship may be lost. 

The pupil’s grasp of this subject may be tested by propounding 
to him some such problems as the following : — 

Germany by treaty has agreed that a German who has lived five 
years in the United States, without expressing intention to 
return to the fatherland, shall lose his German citizenship. If 
now this man should not become naturalized in the United 
States at the end of five years, of what country is he a citizen ? 

If an American citizen marry a foreign woman, does she thereby 
become an American citizen ? 

If an American woman marry a foreigner, does she thereby lose 
her American citizenship ? Whether she go to a foreign country 
or not ? 

Can persons of all races be naturalized ? 

Can an unmarried woman be naturalized ? 

When the father of a family has become naturalized, what is the 
status of his children of foreign birth? of those born on the 
passage to this country ? of those born in this country ? 

A man, being asked to what nation he belonged, replied that his 
father was a Frenchman, his mother a Dutchwoman, and that 
he was born on an English ship sailing under the German flag 
in Spanish waters. What nationality could he claim ? 


























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CHAPTER VIII 


POLITICAL PARTIES 
REFERENCES 

Ostrogorski, M., Democracy and the Organization of Political Parties , Vol. II. 
Macy, Jesse, Party Organization and Machinery. 

Goodnow, F. J., Politics and Administration. 

Woodburn, J. A., Political Parties and Party Problems in the United States. 
Lalor, J. J., Cyclopcedia of Political Science. 

MATERIAL NEEDED 

Copies of Party Rules regarding caucuses, conventions, etc. “Calls” of the various 
committees. 

Copies of delegates’ credentials, nomination certificates, party platforms, and all 
other party documents. 

I. Definition. 

“A party is a body of men united for promoting by their joint 
endeavors the national interest upon some principle on which 
they are all agreed.” — Edmund Burke. 

Compare other definitions. 

II. The uses of and necessity for political parties. 

1. Political parties an essential feature of popular government, 

since it is only through such associations that public senti¬ 
ment can make itself felt. 

2. While political parties are the embodiment and result of public 

sentiment, they also serve to shape and direct it. 

3. Opposing parties a check on each other. 

4. Political parties the chief means by which the individual voter 

takes a direct part in government. 

5. Political parties a means by which the voters fix responsibility 

for public policies. 

160 












































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162 


American Civil Government 


III. History of American political parties. 

1. American national parties first appear in connection with the framing and 

adoption of the Constitution. 

a. The Federalists, who favored a strong central government and the adop¬ 

tion of the Constitution. 

b. The Anti-Federalists, who opposed the policies of the Federalists. 

2. After the adoption of the Constitution, parties formed about Hamilton and 

Jefferson. 

a. The Federalists, who favored a liberal construction of the Constitution, 

the assumption of the entire debt contracted for carrying on the Revo¬ 
lution, a protective tariff, and a national bank. 

b. The Republicans, or Democratic-Republicans, or Democrats, as they 

were successively called, who favored a strict construction of the 
Constitution, emphasized the rights of the states, and opposed the 
measures of Hamilton. 

This party has had a continuous existence to the present time. 

3. Downfall of the Federalists and rise of the Whigs. 

4. Rise of the present Republican party about 1852. 

5. The Federalists, Whigs, and Republicans on the one hand, and the Demo¬ 

crats on the other, have in general divided on the following questions: — 

a. The construction of the Constitution, — liberal vs. strict construction; 

strong central government vs. states’ rights. 

b. A protective tariff vs. a tariff for revenue or free trade. 

c. A system of internal improvements at the national expense. 

d. A national banking system. 

e. The coercion of seceding states. 

/. The restriction or abolition of slavery. 

g. The resumption of specie payments. 

h. The gold standard v. bimetallism or free silver. 

i. A colonial or expansion policy. 

Query : What questions now divide political parties ? 

IV. Party Organizations. Macy, Party Organization and Machinery, 

Chaps. VIII-XV. 

1. Purposes. 

a. Promoting union. 

b. Enlisting recruits. 

c. Arousing enthusiasm. 

d. Formulation of party principles. 
















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164 


American Civil Government 


e. Instruction of voters in party principles. 

/. Selection of party candidates. 

Party organs correspond in general to the political divisions of 
the country: 


Political divisions 

a. Town 
Township 
Village 

Ward or precinct 

b. City 


a. 


b. 


Party organs 
Primaries 
and 

Local committees 


V. 


City conventions 
and 

City committees 

c. County conventions 
and 

County committees 

d. District conventions 
and 

District committees 

e. State conventions 
and 

State committees 
/. National convention 
and 

National committee 

Party organs. Ostrogorski, Democracy and the Organization of 
Political Parties , Vol. II, Part V, Chaps. I-V. 

1. The primary (or caucus) — Definition. 

The two terms are used here interchangeably, because they are 
used in different parts of the United States to mean the same 
thing. It is unfortunate that a distinction is not made in 
the use of the terms. 
a. Membership. 

All voters belonging to a given party within a given district, or 


c. County 


d. Legislative districts 

and 

Congressional districts 

e. The State 


/. The United States 

























■ 














' 





























































i66 


American Civil Government 


Such persons as are designated by the party rules. 

b. Classification. 

Primaries may be held, and in some states are held, (i) for 
the nomination of city, county, legislative, judicial, state, 
or national officers ; or (2) for the election of delegates to 
conventions which are to be held later for the purpose of 
nominating said officers; or (3) they may combine the 
business of (1) and (2). 

2. Conventions. 

a. Membership. 

A convention a representative body composed of delegates 
chosen by the primary or some other convention. 

Special study of membership of national convention. 
Woodburn, Political Parties and Party Problems , 155— 
164. 

b. Classification. 

Conventions may be held (1) for the nomination of candi¬ 
dates for city, county, legislative, judicial, state, or na¬ 
tional offices; or (2) for the election of delegates to other 
conventions; or (3) they may combine the business of 

(1) and (2). 

3. Party committees. 

a. The permanent or continuous party organization. 

b. There is usually a committee for each division in which a 

primary or a convention is held ; i.e., a local committee 
(town, city, or district), a county committee, a state 
committee, and a national committee. 

c. Method of appointment. — See party documents of your 

local party unit. 

d. Work and power of committees. 

(1) Issuing of calls for party primaries and conventions. 

(2) Filling of vacancies on the party ticket. 

(3) Raising and expenditure of campaign funds. 





* 


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i68 


American Civil Government 


(4) Arranging for party publications, public meetings, and 

speech-making. 

(5) Canvassing of voters and “bringing out the vote.” 

(6) Special study of the national committee. Woodburn, 

Political Parties and Party Problems , Chap. XIII. 

(a) Membership. 

(b) Chairman, — importance and responsibility of his 

office. 

(c) Executive committee for the management of a 

presidential campaign. 















































































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. 































































CHAPTER IX 


THE SELECTION OF PUBLIC OFFICIALS 
(To be studied during the time of nominations and elections.) 

REFERENCES 

Ashley, R. L., American Federal State, 445-453. 

Bryce, J., American Commonwealth, Vol. II. 

Lalor, J. J., Cyclopcedia of Political Science, articles on Suffrage, Gerrymander, 
Apportionment. 

Dallinger, F. W., Nominations for Elective Office. 

Hart, A. B., Actual Government. 

Forman, S. E., Advanced Civics, 225-230, 344-349. 

Woodburn, J. A., Political Parties and Party Problems in the United States. 


MATERIAL NEEDED 

A brief compendium of the statutes relating to nominations and elections. 

The state document, usually called the Legislative Manual, which gives the various 
state, county and district officers, their respective districts, and the population 
and number of voters in these districts, the number of votes cast for the various 
officers at the last election, etc. 

Copies of: 

Registrars of voters’ notices. 

Voting lists (check lists). 

Notices of precinct limits and polling places. 

Calls of party committees for conventions and primaries. 

Party nomination papers. 

Delegates’ credentials. 

Nomination certificates. 

Copies of party platforms, state and national. 

Tally sheets (blanks for making returns). 

Samples of all ballots used at primaries and elections of local state and 
national officers. 


VISITS 

As opportunity offers, students should visit: 
The office of registrars of voters. 


170 





























































































































172 


American Civil Government 


A caucus or primary. 

A nominating convention. 

A polling place at election. 

Persons are selected for public offices usually by one of three ways: 

1. By popular election. (At stated times and for definite terms 

of office.) 

2. By election by boards or by legislative bodies. 

3. By appointment by some higher official. (Often for an indef¬ 

inite term, and often subject to confirmation by some board 
or legislative body.) 

Selection by the last two methods is treated in connection with the 
executive departments of city, state, and federal governments. See 
diagrams pp. 64, 140. 

I. The suffrage. Woodburn, Political. Parties and Party Problems, 
Chap. XV. 

1. Brief history of the right of suffrage from its limited or restricted 

condition in England before the colonization of America, 
and in the first hundred years of the colonies, down through 
its extension in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. 
Note what portion of the citizens of the United States now 
have the right of suffrage. 

2. Definition of voter compared with that of citizen, alien, and 

inhabitant. (Cf. p. 156.) 

The following tabulation may help to make clear the distinction 
between voters, citizens, aliens, and inhabitants : 


Inhabitants 



a portion of the native or 
naturalized citizens who have 
certain qualifications which 
vary somewhat in different 
states. 


i Aliens 


Note. — In twelve states aliens who have declared their intention of becoming 
voters are allowed to vote. 


From the last census report get the numbers of the above classes in 
your city, village, or township. From the report of the last election 





















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I 































































• ‘ 






























. 

















































174 


American Civil Government 


learn the number of votes cast for the chief magistrate, and compute 
the ratio of the number who did vote to the number who could vote, 
and to the number of inhabitants. 

Query. — In what sense does the majority rule ? 

3. The qualifications of voters in your state. 

a. Comparison of these qualifications, in regard to sex, citizen¬ 

ship, age, residence, education, property, or tax qualifica¬ 
tion, with the qualifications in other states. 

b. Other qualifications required in some states. 

c. Disqualifications or exceptions to the above expressly men¬ 

tioned in your state constitution. Who decides who 
may vote ? 

d. Principles (or alleged reasons) under which paupers, insane 

persons, criminals, children, women, and aliens are denied 
suffrage in some states. 

e. Source of the laws regulating the elective franchise. 

/. Extent to which the Constitution of the United States con¬ 
trols the matter. 

g. Does the Fifteenth Amendment apply to citizens of Mon¬ 

golian race? Why? Hart, Actual Government, 69. 

h. Number of states giving women the elective franchise, 

wholly or in part. 

Chief arguments for and against woman suffrage. 

II. Registration of voters. 

Number of states employing registration; number requiring 
registration in towns above a certain size; number prohibiting 
registration. Forman, Advanced Civics, 345; Hart, Actual 
Government, pp. 73 and 84. 

1. Advantages of registration. 

a. An opportunity to settle beforehand question of a man’s 

legal right to vote. 

b. An aid in preventing certain frauds in voting. 

2. The two systems of registration in use : 






























































































































































176 


American Civil Government 


a. Annual, as in New York. 

b. Permanent, as in Massachusetts. 

Discuss advantages and disadvantages of each. 

3. Boards of registration. 

a. Method of choosing. 

b. Qualifications of members. 

4. Method of registration. 

a. The process of registration in your town or city. 

b. The time limitations. 

III. Electoral districts. Hart, Actual Government , 71-73. 

1. Two classes. 

a. The more permanent administrative subdivisions of states 

and territories; viz., cities, towns, counties, and 

b. The more variable subdivisions made by legislative bodies; 

viz., precincts, wards, state senatorial and representative 
districts, and congressional districts. 

(1) The principle supposed to control the making of this 

class of districts. 

(2) The “gerrymander.” The origin of the term. The 

aim of the “gerrymander.” The objection to it. 
Griffith, E. C., Rise and Development of the Gerry¬ 
mander. 

(3) Unequal representation. 

2. Discuss the statement that “petty districts will be represented 

by petty men,” and present arguments for and against 
“election by districts ” and “election at large.” 

3. Draw an outline map of your state and mark with different 

colors the boundaries of a half dozen of the districts in which 
you live: e.g., the town, the ward or precinct, the county, 
the state representative district, the state senatorial district, 
the congressional district. Discover some of the reasons 
for the varying sizes and shapes of these overlapping 
districts. 









178 American Civil Government 

IV. Nominations. 

1. Classification. 

a. Party nominations. 

(1) By direct vote of members of a political party in pri¬ 

mary or caucus. 

(2) By delegate convention. 

b. Independent nomination: viz., nomination by petition or 

“nomination paper.” Goodnow, City Government in 
United States, 122-128. 

2. Preelection movement of party machinery. 

a. The call of party committees, national (in presidential elec¬ 

tion years), state, and local, for conventions and pri¬ 
maries. 

b. The making of the primary ballot, or the “slate.” 

c. The work of the primary. 

(1) Organization by choice of officers. 

(2) The direct nomination of candidates for office. 

(3) The choosing of delegates to nominating conventions. 

(4) The election of local party committee for ensuing 

year. 

d. Credentials. 

e. Work of the nominating convention — district, state, and 

national. 

(1) To nominate candidates. 

(2) In all except national conventions, to choose delegates 

(who in many cases are instructed as to how they 
shall vote) to other conventions. 

(3) To elect members of party committees for the ensuing 

year. 

(4) In the case of state and national conventions, to draw 

up the party platform. 

/. Procedure of the national convention which meets once in 
four years to nominate candidates for president and vice- 






< . • 


























































































































i8o 


American Civil Government 


president and formulate a party platform. Ostrogorski, 
Democracy and the Organization of Political Parties, 
Vol. II, Chap. III. 

g. Certificate of nomination. 

Note. — Let the pupil follow the movement of party machinery 
and note all the steps in the nomination of Mr. X for state senator, 
from the issue of the call for conventions by the state (or national) 
party committee to the placing of the candidate’s name upon the 
election ballot. (See accompanying diagram.) In like manner follow 
the nomination of Mr. Y for president. 

V. Elections. 

1. Time of holding local, state, and national elections. 

Reasons for holding them at same or different times. 

2. Preparation of ballots in each case. Delivery at the polls. 

Final disposal. 

3. The so-called Australian system of balloting. 

a. The two variations of the Australian ballot generally in 

use in the United States, exemplified by the ballots of 
Massachusetts and New York. 

b. The method of secret balloting. 

(1) Its aim. 

After a visit to the polls the pupils should describe minutely 
the process of voting, drawing diagram of polling place; 
they should describe the counting^of ballots and the 
method of making returns (see 4 below); they should 
understand the aim of the so-called Australian system of 
balloting, and note how each step in the process con¬ 
tributes to this end. 

(2) Its history. 

If time will permit, make a brief survey of the various 
methods of voting used in the past, and consider the voting 
machine as a possible method in the future. 

4. Election returns, re-counts, canvassing boards, etc. 


DIAGRAM TO ILLUSTRATE NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS 
IN MASSACHUSETTS 

ELECTION OF MR. X.TO THE STATE SENATE 


Democratic Party mmm Republican Party 


















































. 















































































* 

























































. 


* 


































































American Civil Government 


182 

5. Presidential electors, their choice, function, time of meeting, 

etc. See Amendment XII to Constitution. 

6. Make a list of officers for whom a voter may vote in local, 

state, and national elections. 

7. Follow the steps in the election of Mr. X to some state office 

from the time his name appears on the ballot till he receives 
his official notice of election. 

8. In the same way follow the election of Mr. Y to the office of 

president; Mr. Z to some local executive office. 

VI. Some discussion of the theories and principles of representative 
government involved in nominations and elections. 

1. The “rule of the people ” ; i.e., the rule of the largest number 

of those who, having the right to vote, do vote together. 
This frequently results in the rule of a minority. 

This system a matter of expediency. 

2. The rights of the minority. 

a. The attempt to secure them by proportional representation, 
cumulative voting, etc. J. R. Commons, Proportional 
Representation. 

Note. — If the distinction between a “majority ” and a “plurality ” 
has not already been made and a clear understanding of the meaning of 
these terms secured, the matter should be treated here. 

Would you prefer to be elected by a majority vote or by a 
plurality vote ? Why ? When is a plurality a majority 
also? What are the advantages and disadvantages of 
either method ? 

3. Is it the duty of one having the right to vote at a primary or 

election to exercise that right ? Why ? In which does the 
individual voter’s influence count for more ? 

4. The extension of the voter’s privilege of expressing his choice 

to the adoption of constitutions and constitutional amend¬ 
ments, to local option in various matters and even to matters 



















































« 


























American Civil Government 


of ordinary legislation, the “referendum” and the “initia¬ 
tive.” See p. 98. Oberholtzer, E. P., Referendum in 
America. 

5. What is the aim of elections at frequent intervals ? 

Discuss advantages and disadvantages. 

6. Distinguish clearly between the idea of short terms of office 

and the pernicious idea of “rotation in office.” 

7. Baneful effect of national political parties upon municipal gov¬ 

ernment as shown in the nomination and election of munic¬ 
ipal officers. 

Hart, Actual Government , 208-210. 

Devlin, Municipal Reform in the United States, 63-67. 

Eaton, The Government of Municipalities, 57-B8. 

8. Rings and Bosses. Woodburn, Political Parties and Party 

Problems , Chap. XVI. 

9. The Spoils System vs. The Merit System, Bryce, American 

Commonwealth, Vol. II, Chap. XLV. 


READING LIST 


Ashley, Roscoe L. The American Federal State. New York. The Macmillan 
Co. 1902. 

Baldwin, Simeon E. The American Judiciary. New York. The Century Co. 
1905. 

- Modern Political Institutions. Boston. Little, Brown & Co. 1898. 

Bluntschli, J. K. Theory of the Modern State. Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1895. 
Brewer, David J. United States Supreme Court. New York. Chas. Scribner’s 
Sons. 1903. 

Bryce, James. The American Commonwealth. New York. The Macmillan Co. 
1908. 

Buchanan, William H. Powers, Duties and Liabilities of Towns and Town Officers 
in Massachusetts. Boston. Little, Brown & Co. 1903. 

Butler, Wilson R. Government in the New England States. New York. Chas. 
Scribner’s Sons. 1905. 

Carson, Hampton L. The Supreme Court of the United States, its History. Phila¬ 
delphia. P.' W. Ziegler & Co. 1892. 

Cleveland, Grover. Presidential Problems. New York. The Century Co. 
1904. 

Commons, John R. Proportional Representation. New York. T. Y. Crowell & 
Co. 1896. 

Conkling, Alfred R. City Government in the United States. New York. D. 
Appleton & Co. 1899. 

Cooley, Thomas M. Principles of Constitutional Law. Boston. Little, Brown 
& Co. 1898. 

- Constitutional Limitations, 1890. Boston. Little, Brown & Co. 

Dallinger, Frederick W. Nominations for Elective Office. New York. Long¬ 
mans, Green, & Co. 1897. 

Dawson, Henry B. (editor). The Federalist. New York. Chas. Scribner’s Sons. 

1897. An excellent edition of the text of “The Federalist.” 

Devlin, Robert T. Municipal Reform in the United States. Putnam. 
Dunning, W. A. History of Political Theories. New York. The Macmillan Co. 
2 vols. 1902-1905. 

Eaton, Dorman B. The Government of Municipalities. New York. The Mac¬ 
millan Co. 1899. 

Evans, Lawrence B. Writings of Washington. 

- Writings of American Statesmen. New York. G. P. Putnam’s Sons. 1908 

and following. / 

- Writings of Washington, 1908. 

- Writings of Hamilton, 1910. *- 

Fairlie, John A. Local (Government in Counties, Towns, and Villages. New York. 
The Century Co. 1906. 

■- Municipal Administration. New York. The Macmillan Co. 1906. 

Finley and Sanderson. The American Executive and Executive Methods. New 
York. The Century Co. 1908. 


185 






i 36 


American Civil Government 


Fiske, John. The Critical Period of American History. 1888. 

- Civil Government in the United States. 1890. 

- Beginnings of New England, 1889-1898. Boston. Houghton, Mifflin 

& Co. 

Flickinger, J. R. Civil Government. Boston. D. C. Heath & Co. 1901. 
Follett, Mary P. The Speaker of the House of Representatives. New York. 
Longmans, Green, & Co. 1896. 

Ford, Paul L. (editor). The Federalist. New York. Henry Holt & Co. 1898. 
An excellent edition containing Hamilton’s Syllabus and preface, and Madi¬ 
son’s account of “The Federalist,” with a complete appendix of most valuable 
papers. 

Forman, S. E. Advanced Civics. New York. The Century Co. 1905. 

Fuller, H. B. Congressional Salary Legislation. “N. American Review,” Vol. 
188, No. 4. 

Giddings, F. J. Elements of Sociology. New York. The Macmillan Co. 1908. 
Goodnow, Frank J. Municipal Problems. 1907. 

- Municipal Home Rule. 1895. 

- Municipal Government, 1909. New York. The Macmillan Co. 

- Politics and Administration, 1900. 

- Comparative Administrative Laiv, 1893. 

- City Government in the United States. 1904. New York. The Century Co. 

Griffith, Elmer C. The Rise and Development of the Gerrymander. Chicago. 
Scott, Foresman & Co. 1907. 

Handbooks of American Government, especially Morey’s Government of New 
York. L. B. Evans, editor. New York. The Macmillan Co. 

Harrison, Benjamin. This Country of Ours. New York. Chas. Scribner’s Sons. 

1897. 

Hart, Albert B. Actual Government as Applied under American Conditions. 

New York. Longmans, Green, & Co. 1903. 

Hatton, A. R. Digest of City Charters. Published by Chicago Charter Convention. 
1907. 

FIill, Mabel. Liberty Documents. New York. Longmans, Green, & Co. 1901. 
Hitchcock, Henry. American State Constitutions. New York. G. P. Putnam’s 
Sons. 1887. 

Howard, George E. An Introduction to the Local Constitutional History of the 
United States. Baltimore. Johns Hopkins University. 1889. 

PIowe, Frederick C. The City, the Hope of Democracy. New York. Chas. 
Scribner’s Sons. 1905. 

James and Sanford. Government in State and Nation. New York. Chas. Scrib¬ 
ner’s Sons. 1901. 

Lalor, John J. Cyclopedia of Political Science. New York. C. E. Merrill & Co. 
1899. 

Leroy-Beaulieu, P. The Modern State. New York. Chas. Scribner’s Sons. 
Lieber, Francis. Civil Government and Self Liberty. Boston. Little, Brown & 
Co. 1853. 

- Political Ethics. Boston. Little, Brown & Co. 1838. 

Macy, Jesse. Party Organization and Machinery. New York. The Century Co. 
1904. 

Mason, Edward C. The Veto Power; Its Origin , Development and Function in the 
Government of the United States. Boston. Ginn & Co. 1890. 

McConachie, Lauros G. Congressional Committees. New York. T. Y. Crowell. 

1898. 

Merriam, C. E. American Political Theories. New York. The Macmillan Co. 
1906. 


Reading List 


187 


Municipal Program , A. Printed as an appendix to Horace E. Deming’s Govern¬ 
ment of American Cities. New York. G. P. Putnam’s Sons. 

Munro, W. B. The Government of European Cities. The Macmillan Co. 1909 
Oberholtzer, Ellis P. The Referendum in America. New York. Charles 
Scribner’s Sons. 1900. 

Ostrogorski, M. Democracy and the Organization of Political Parties (translated 
by Frederick Clarke). New York. The Macmillan Co. 2 vols. 1902. 
Pollock, Sir Frederick. An Introduction to the History of the Science of Politics. 
New York. The Macmillan Co. 1897. 

Reinsch, Paul S. American Legislatures and Legislative Methods. New York. 
The Century Co. 1907. 

-Editor, Readings on American Federal Government. Boston. Ginn & Co. 

1909. 

Rhodes, J. F. The Presidential Office. New York. Chas. Scribner’s Sons. 1903. 
Roosevelt, Theodore. American Ideals. New York. G. P. Putnam’s Sons. 

18 97. 

Root, Elihu. The Citizen's Part in Government. New York. Chas. Scribner’s 
Sons. 1907. 

Rowe, L. G. Problems of City Government. New York. D. Appleton & Co. 
1908. 

Shaw, Albert. Political Problems of American Development. New York. The 
Macmillan Co. 1907. s 

Smith, J. Allen. The Spirit of American Government. New York. The Mac¬ 
millan Co. 1907. 

Stanwood, Edward. History of the Presidency. Boston. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 

1898. 

Stimson, Frederic J. The Law of the Federal and State Constitutions of the United 
States. Boston. Boston Book Co. 1908. 

Story, Joseph. Commentaries on the Constitution. Boston. Little, Brown & 
Co. 1833. 

Taylor, Hannis. The Speaker and his Powers. “N. American Review,” Vol. 188. 
No. 4. 

Thwaites, R. G. The Colonies. New York. Longmans, Green, & Co. 1893. 
Tiedeman, Christopher G. The Unwritten Constitution of the United States. New 
York. G. P. Putnam’s Sons. 1890. 

West, H. L. In “The Forum,” March, 1901. 

Wilcox, Delos F. The American City; A Problem in Democracy. 1904. 

- Study of City Government. 1897. New York. The Macmillan Co. 

Willard, A. R. Legislative Handbook. Boston. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 1890. 
Willoughby, Westel W. The American Constitutional System. New York. 
The Century Co. 1904. 

Willoughby, William F. Territories and Dependencies of the United States. New 
York. The Century Co. 1905. 

Wilson, Woodrow. Congressional Government. Boston. Houghton, Mifflin & 
Co. 1885. 

- The State. Boston. D. C. Heath & Co. 1898. 

Woodburn, James A. The American Republic and, its Government. 

- Political Parties and Party Problems in the United States. New York. G. P. 

Putnam’s Sons. 1903. 



The American Federal State 

Text-book in Civics for High Schools and Colleges 

By ROSCOE LEWIS ASHLEY 


Illustrated Cloth i2mo $2.00 net 


If every American youth were led through a conscientious study of 
American civics as set forth in this book, there would be no more ignorant 
voting, no more unintelligent support of party politicians, no more “rail¬ 
road legislation” because of ignorant party followers; every citizen of the 
coming generation would know, definitely and clearly, the how and the 
why of every phase of governmental machinery. 

Professor Ashley does not attempt to reproduce the text of civic docu¬ 
ments— these he suggests be obtained from their sources and placed in 
the hands of the students. What the author does is to describe the 
organization and work of the different American governments to make 
prominent the relation of the citizens to the government and to each 
other. This he does, first, by explaining some of the more important 
principles of political science with practical applications; second, by show¬ 
ing how the American Federal State became what it is; third, by describ¬ 
ing the national, state (commonwealth), and local governments; and 
fourth, by giving some idea of the policies of the state in regard to great 
public questions and of the problems that confront it. 

Although this book contains more material and outlines a more com¬ 
plete study of civics than most text-books on the subject, the author has 
arranged a plan by which more cursory study may be made, using only 
parts of the book. High school and even grammar school teachers will 
find this plan of unusual merit. 


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The American Commonwealth 

By James Bryce, author of “The Holy Roman Empire,’\M.P. for 
Aberdeen. In two volumes. Third edition, completely revised 
throughout, with additional chapters. Crown 8vo. Cloth, gilt 
tops. In press. 

Vol. I. The National Government — The State Government. 
xix + 724 pages. $1.75 net. 

Vol. II. The Party System — Public Opinion — Illustrations and 
Reflections — Social Institutions. 904 pages. $2.25 net. 

“ His work rises at once to an eminent place among studies of great 
nations and their institutions. It is, so far as America goes, a work unique 
in scope, spirit, and knowledge. There is nothing like it anywhere extant 
— nothing that approaches it. . . . Without exaggeration, it may be 
called the most considerable and gratifying tribute that has yet been 
bestowed upon us by an Englishman, and perhaps by even England her¬ 
self. . . . Every thoughtful American will read it, and will long hold in 
grateful remembrance its author’s name.” — New York Times. 

“ It is not too much to call ‘ The American Commonwealth ’ one of the 
most distinguished additions to political and social science which this gen¬ 
eration has seen. It has done, and will continue to do, a great work in 
informing the world concerning the principles of this government.” — 
Philadelphia Evening Telegraph. 

“No enlightened American can desire a better thing for his country 
than the widest diffusion and the most thorough reading of Mr. Bryce’s 
impartial and penetrating work.” — Literary World. 


The American Commonwealth 

Abridged Edition, for the use of Colleges and High Schools. Being 
an Introduction to the Study of the Government and Institutions 
of the United States. By James Bryce. One volume. Crown 
8vo. xiii +547 pages. $1.75 net. 

“It is a genuine pleasure to commend to our readers the abridged 
edition of‘The American Commonwealth ’ just issued by the Macmillan 
Company. Mr. Bryce’s book, which has heretofore been issued only in 
two volumes, has no peer as a commentary upon American political insti¬ 
tutions.” — Public Opinion. 


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American Government 


By Roscoe Lewis Ashley. A Text-book for Secondary Schools. 
Illustrated. 121110. Cloth, xx + 356 pages. $1.00 net. 

This book is particularly adapted for use in high schools and institutions 
of corresponding grade, either alone or in connection with a text-book in 
American history. The Introduction considers the general character of 
American government, together with the methods of selecting public offi¬ 
cials. Part I is devoted to “State and Local Government,” and treats 
with especial fulness the subject of the administrative work of the states, 
cities, and counties. Part II deals with “National Government,” and 
discusses constitutional changes since 1787, the relation of the States to 
the Nation, the powers of Congress and of the President, and the duties 
performed by the executive departments. A large number of specific 
references and present-day questions are introduced at the close of each 
chapter, thus making it a working manual for students as well as a text¬ 
book for recitation. 


Civics: Studies in American Citizenship 

By Waldo H. Sherman. i2mo. Cloth, x + 328 pages. 90 
cents net. 

This text introduces the student to a most unique order of political 
thought and development. The subject is taught by practical illustration, 
or what might be termed the laboratory method. Land is taken as the 
foundation stone upon which to build all government, and throughout the 
entire course there is the central thought that property interests and gov¬ 
ernment interests are in partnership, and cannot be divorced. Special 
prominence is given to the study of city government, associated life in 
cities being considered by the author the problem of the age. 


Government 




By Charles Dwight Willard. 121-no. Cloth, xiv-f 170 pages. 

50 cents net. 

The purpose of this book is to aid pupils in public schools to become 
acquainted with the government of the city in which they dwell. Sugges¬ 
tions to the instructor as to the methods of study and the methods of 
securing a knowledge of the local methods of administration are given. 
There are useful notes explanatory of the text and a bibliography of the 
topic. 


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Handbooks of American Government 

Under the general editorship of Lawrence B. Evans, Professor of 
History in Tufts College. Each volume, i2mo. Cloth. 

This series of handbooks is designed to trace the history of the constitu¬ 
tional development and describe the present government of certain states 
of the Union. While each book is written especially for the students of 
the particular state, the handbooks will be useful to the general reader 
who wishes to understand the sectional forces at work in our national 
development. The volumes are furnished with appendices containing 
historical material for more extensive work than the text affords. With 
such aid the teacher can go back of text-book statement into the spirit of 
our commonwealths’ institutions. Useful statistical tables are added. 


The Government of Minnesota 

Its History and Administration. By Frank L. McVey, Professor 
of Economics in the University of Minnesota, xi + 236 pages. 
75 cents net. 

The Government of New York 

Its History and Administration. By William C. Morey, Professor 
of History and Political Science in the University of Rochester. 
xiii + 294 pages. 75 cents net. 

The Government of Ohio 

Its History and Administration. By Wilbur H. Siebert, Professor 
of European History in Ohio State University, xv + 309 pages. 
75 cents net. 

The Government of Illinois 

Its History and Administration. By Evarts Boutell Greene, 
Professor of History in the University of Illinois, xiv-f 296 
pages. 75 cents net. 


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